Several hundred incoming CU-Boulder students tried their hand helping others during 鈥淒ay of Service鈥� on Saturday, Aug. 24.
Day of Service is an opportunity for first-year students to get out into the community they are entering and experience its needs and culture beyond the borders of the CU campus, according to Jen Ross, director of the at CU-Boulder, which spearheads the service event.
One of the goals of the service day is to help students connect with their new community.
鈥淲e feel that going out and getting involved in the community when you first arrive at school is a good way to introduce students to service,鈥� Ross said. 鈥淥ur hope is that we guide students toward sustainable service as part of their everyday life as opposed to a one-time service experience. We want students to feel connected to their campus community and their surrounding communities.鈥�
In 2012, 120 students worked on community projects with five organizations. This year, first-year students from the Stearns East residence hall in Williams Village and the Leadership Residence Academic Program participated. The student projects included painting and beautification at University Hill and Creekside Elementary schools, and a University Hill cleanup project with the University Hill Neighborhood Association.
Participating students had a chance to learn first-hand about group leadership, personal responsibility and what it means to contribute to a community鈥檚 well-being. CU-Boulder senior Rachael Kelley worked as a project leader during Day of Service and hopes she made a difference not only in the community, but also with the incoming students.
鈥淭hrough serving the place that has filled me up with a real sense of community and respect, I鈥檝e gained an appreciation for the amount of work it takes to maintain such a beautiful, happy place,鈥� Kelley said. 鈥淔or all the incoming students who have just left one home, some coming from hundreds of miles away, this sense of home is so important.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my hope that by serving throughout Boulder on the Day of Service, they can feel an inkling of this amazing sense of belonging to a community that I now hold,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 hope they come back for more. Amongst all the voices imploring freshmen to 鈥榞et involved,鈥� I hope that involvement in our larger community doesn鈥檛 get lost.鈥�
Other volunteer and service opportunities available to CU-Boulder students include:
- , Sept. 3
- , Sept. 21
- for first-year students
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