For most college students, spring break means beaches, parties, and a week away from responsibility. But for a unique group of River Heroes, it means something entirely different: boots, barges, and a mission to clean America’s waterways.

Study Aboard, a Rivers are Life film, takes viewers onto the Mississippi River with Living Lands & Waters and its legendary founder Chad Pregracke. Each March, dozens of college students from across the country sign up for the group’s Alternative Spring Break program. Instead of chasing cocktails, they’re chasing debris, pulling thousands of pounds of trash from McKellar Lake and the river system around Memphis, Tennessee.

For a week, students live and work aboard a conservation barge. Their days are filled with muddy cleanups, hands-on lessons in ecology, and eye-opening talks about careers in river conservation. Nights bring community, shared meals, and the realization that protecting rivers can be both tough and transformative.

Living Lands & Waters has built a reputation as one of the scrappiest, most effective river organizations in the world. But this program proves their impact goes beyond hauling waste, it’s about building the next generation of leaders. Students leave not just with tired muscles, but with a deeper sense of connection to rivers and the confidence to lead change in their own communities.

Study Aboard is more than a film about cleanups, it’s a story about choosing purpose over parties, grit over glamour, and proving that the future of river conservation is in good hands.