A trip to New York City to examine the Metropolitan Museum of Art, experience a Broadway Show and network with Point Park alumni will top off an alternative spring break trip for students.
The March 2-6 trip, which costs $225, is offered to individuals in the Point Park Honors Student Organization (HSO), as well as the School of Communication.
Sophomore journalism student Jessica Federkeil attended the trip last year.
“I can say it is a wonderful opportunity that is hard to turn down,” Federkeil said. “The price is so affordable — about $200 for a long weekend in New York City; you can’t beat that.”
2010 was the first year that Point Park took students to New York City for an alternative spring break trip. The trip has changed a bit over the years.
HSO Graduate Assistant Emily Kolek attended the alternative spring break two years ago.
“This time, the trip will have more professional visits to agencies for School of Communication students,” Kolek said. “There wasn’t a networking event with alumni in the past, so there are definitely added bonuses this time.”
Students will depart Wednesday morning and will board a bus headed for New York City, where they will enjoy a four-night stay in Hotel Pennsylvania, located across from Madison Square Garden. That night, they will dine with alumni at the Pennsylvania 6.
Thursday afternoon, Point Park students will savor a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also konwn as The Met, where the museum’s Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreennivasan will hold a discussion. That evening, students get to take in the talent on Broadway at “Something Rotten.”
Friday is designated as community service day. Students will meet up with the Monroe College Honors Program where they will work on a “Read Across America” program. According to nea.org, “Read Across America” focuses on motivating children and teens to read through events, partnerships and reading resources.
On Saturday, the final day of the trip, Point Park students will visit Central Park.
“We’re going to look at it top to bottom, go on a scavenger hunt, learn about its history and see what’s there,” HSO Director Helen Fallon said. “We may try to do a museum visit – probably the MOMA, or go to the Statue of Liberty or the 9/11 memorial.”
That evening, students will get free time to enjoy their last day in the city.
“I truly feel that offering a spring break trip through the Honors Program is so incredibly beneficial for students of Point Park,” HSO President-Elect Nicolette Jones said. “It gives them the opportunity to go outside the city of Pittsburgh and volunteer, sight see and network at alumni events and meetings set up by the university.”
Though the deadline has passed to sign up for this year’s trip, students still have an opportunity to contribute. HSO is fundraising by selling notecards with archived photographs of Point Park on them, and students are also encouraged to attend a fundraising event at Wigle Whiskey on March 21.
