Sarah Howard said she is looking forward to spending spring break with her family in sunny Mazatlan, Mexico.

“I’m going to lie in the sun, drink a lot of margaritas and not do any homework,” said Howard, a journalism sophomore.

Although some University students will remain residence-hall bound next week, others are spending their spring breaks in faraway destinations.

Like Howard, Ryan Wolff is spending his spring break with his family.

Wolff, a genetics and human physiology sophomore, is traveling to Banff in Alberta, Canada, with his dad and brother to downhill ski.

“I’m looking forward to getting away from school – skiing is always fun,” he said. “I kind of wish I was going somewhere warmer, though.”

Some students are traveling together on trips organized by student groups.

The group Students Today, Leaders Forever will take more than 150 students from 13 universities and three high school groups on a cross-country trip bound for Washington.

The group’s second Operation: Pay It Forward Tour will take four busloads of students on different routes through the United States. Along the way, they will do community service projects, said Greg Tehven, a group member and entrepreneurship sophomore.

For example, Tehven said, University students will be reading to and tutoring elementary school children in Philadelphia. He said the city has a low literacy rate.

Also, students who stop in Chicago will help the American Cancer Society with their biggest fund-raiser, Daffodil Days, Tehven said.

He said the purpose of the trip is “to grow and challenge ourselves and to show the power of youth.”

Also promoting community service during spring break is the University’s Habitat for Humanity chapter.

David Degenhardt, a chemistry senior, said approximately 60 students are traveling to states such as California, Florida and Louisiana to work on house construction.

The chapter does spring and winter break trips yearly, he said.

Degenhardt said students enjoy the trips because they are a good balance of fun and service.

“A lot of people consider it a good idea, because you get the chance to have fun over spring break and help people in the process,” he said.

But some students will be spending spring break in the residence halls.

Tam Knapton, Housing and Residential Life director for Centennial Hall, said 59 out of approximately 700 students who live in the hall have confirmed they will stay there during spring break.

The main reasons students stay on campus during a break is to work on homework and work at local jobs, Knapton said.