By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing
While many students take a pause from studies to relax on a beach or visit family during spring break, a group of 12 USF St. Petersburg students are traveling to Nashville to volunteer.
Un-BULL-ieveable Service Break Trips provide USF students an opportunity to visit different cities across the country to volunteer their time, engage with community service initiatives and take what they learn back home. The trip is funded this year by a generous gift from the Sunrise Rotary Club.
In Nashville, students will help with after school programs, assist a food bank, work in a domestic violence shelter, support an art class for the homeless, learn about the operations of a thrift store and more. The group is collaborating with the Medici Project on this trip, an organization that connects college students with non-profit organizations in multiple cities.
“The goal is to provide students the experience of traveling to a new city while volunteering in a variety of different environments while there. We hope they learn from this experience and bring that knowledge to St. Petersburg, coming up with ideas on how to better serve our community back home,” said Kasey Szel, coordinator of leadership and student organizations at USF St. Petersburg who will lead the trip.
Each day of spring break, students will work with two different organizations on various community service projects. The curriculum and volunteer opportunities are largely focused on homelessness and food insecurity. Throughout the experience, students will reflect together and separately on what they have learned.
“Helping people is important to me, which is why I am part of a volunteer club on campus called Bulls that Serve,” said freshman Emilia Wrunke, who is from Kentucky and grew up hosting food drives at her school to support low income and immigrant families. “I want to do international volunteer trips in the future, so when I heard about this trip, I saw it as a great way to dip my toe in the waters.”
The students participating are a diverse group, representing different majors, graduation classes and backgrounds. Beginning in January, they began meeting weekly to prepare for the trip and start bonding over ice breaker exercises and activities.
“It’s been wonderful to get to know others I didn’t know before, understanding their motives for going on this trip and sharing similar passions for doing service work,” said Serena Lozandi, a third-year student majoring in Biology with a concentration in medical biology.
Trip organizers hope the experience will help students develop greater empathy for less fortunate people. And that the spirit of service will stay with them as they return home.
“I’m excited to learn and see how organizations and individuals from different states address issues around homelessness,” Lozandi said. “Getting involved in interesting programs - like providing art classes to those less fortunate – can destigmatize these issues and get more people involved with helping out in our community.”