Last week’s Spring Break marked the opportunity for students to flee the bipolar Syracuse climate for more tropical destinations. Despite the inherent yearnings of college-aged Americans to seek out beer, beaches and scantily clad coeds during this springtime hiatus, a group of students opted out of quintessential Spring Break destinations in favor of more technology-oriented travels.

This group went on the School of Information Studies’ second Spring Break in Silicon Valleyouting from March 11-16. The program offered two credits to 15 students chosen from a competitive applicant pool in December 2011, in addition to real world learning and networking.
According to the SBinSV website, the program exposed students to the hub of innovative technologies and practices bubbling over in Silicon Valley, acknowledged worldwide as a meeting place for minds that cherish innovation, beauty and clean code.

In this city, nerdiness is next to godliness, and a right to hubris is earned in a coliseum of intellectual competency. The concepts etched on white boards in living rooms and scribbled on napkins in coffee shops embody the forward-thinking nature of modern technology.

The lucky group learned how the same methods and school of thought can be applied to Central New York by visiting a smorgasbord of companies and academic venues. Some included large-scale technology companies like Google and Facebook, and smaller-scale start-ups like Crowdtilt and Stanford University.

This visit was one of the main reasons for applying for the trip, said Chris Becker, a junior information management and technology major. But Becker took away a much larger lesson than the ins and outs of techie networking.

‘I had always thought that starting my own business was next to impossible, but this trip changed everything,’ Becker said. ‘We talked with CEOs and engineers that dropped out of college to pursue their dreams, and they have been extremely successful. It was great to realize that these people were on my level and not some business god that graduated from an Ivy League college.’

Ariel Norling, a senior policy studies major, applied to the trip to indulge her inner geek. What she took away from it was a catalyst for change. She believes her interactions with her tech idols may have changed her career path. The trip made her question some of the academic conventions she had planned to pursue.

‘Going into the trip, I was planning on staying in Syracuse and working on my start-up over the summer and going to graduate school in the fall,’ she said. ‘(My interactions) have given me a lot to think about and has changed my perception about what my options and possibilities are with my start-up.’

These 15 students went against the grain by snubbing the typical Spring Break experience. Between company visits, networking and the In-N-Out Burger trips, they received much more than the standard tan.

Jessica Smith is a senior information management and technology and television, radio and film dual major. Her column appears every Tuesday. She can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on March 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm