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Student Profiles in Service
Major: International and Global Studies
Houston has participated in the outreach trips to Haiti and is involved with Housing Sewanee. She is working on the Campaign for Haitian Students' Education Fund. She is also in Perpetual Motion, the Sophomore Council, Dining Council, Arcadians, and a member of PKE.
The Outreach Office at Sewanee has formed my experience on the mountain.My first year I went on the Outreach Trip to Haiti. While there I workedin a free pharmacy set up by students, pulled teeth, and played with thekids from the area. It was a wonderful opportunity to go abroad and helpmake a difference in a country like Haiti. It has also been great
participating in Outreach work in and around the Domain.I have met someof my closest friends through Outreach work,
have gained the knowledge ofhow one person can make a difference, and now know that some area ofOutreach will always be apart of my life. I will never be able to giveback as much as I have gained from my experiences with the OutreachOffice.
Major: International and Global Studies, Taylor is involved with Mississippi Episcopal Summer Camp for mentally and physically handicapped adults, Volunteer Tutoring, and Uganda Outreach! Her other interest include social justice, working with children, and third world development.
Spending two weeks in Uganda was an enriching experience for me.
Of course I gained a sense of self worth from helping people and
providing for those who are without,
but I also gained a greater understanding for those who live in poverty.
When hearing about two year old street children begging for money,
students that are forced out of school because they cannot pay the fees,
and families that do not have enough money to feed all of their children,
initially one feels great sympathy, however the people in
Uganda do not need sympathy;
they need social justice and this is where we can help.
The sights that I saw in Uganda serve as motivation for
me to work to provide education and opportunities for the poor.
Major: International Studies
Outreach Activities:
o Outreach trips through the Outreach Office to
Mississippi and Ecuador
o Canale Service Internship
o Teaching ESL classes in Lima, Peru
Other Activities at Sewanee:
o Track and Field
o Swimming and Diving
o Order of the Gownsmen
o Assistant Proctor program
o Environmental Resident program
o Work-study life-guarding
"I've really enjoyed getting to know other people's needs through the outlet
of service. Having had the opportunity to serve at home and abroad,I've
seen many similarities in regards to the needs of humankind. Yes, it is
very important to help people with their physical needs such as laying a
concrete patio or rebuilding a house, but sometimes the greatest needs
people have are intangible. Working in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina
came was one of the most incredible service experiences I've had. While
people were very grateful that we came with supplies of cleaning products,
bottled water, and a willingness to work, many people I encountered down
there were delighted in the sheer fact that we came. Sometimes people
just need someone to share themselves with and to tell their stories to.
I've found that the human connection, universal and multilingual, comes
from that shoulder to cry on, that smile to laugh with, or just the look that
conveys that you care enough just to be there. That's why I continue to
serve,for that connection."
Major: Art, Lo's community service activities consist of the Gulf Coast Outreach (Fall and Christmas) Break trips, a Canale Internship with Housing Sewanee, Inc., Komen Race for the Cure, and C.O.O.L. Idealist Conference. Some of her other activities and interests include being an Assistant Proctor, Art, and especially Documentary Studies in Photography with field work experience in New Orleans and Haiti.
My experiences at Sewanee doing outreach has been very fulfilling! I especially enjoyed going to Ecuador and volunteering at the orphanage and garbage dump (in which families lived). Being in both of those place gave me a better appreciation for life and for all of the many things I have. My experiences have meant everything to me; having the opportunity to impact so many lives, and in return having my own life impacted. Coming back home from many of the places, I learned not to take life for granted, and to thank God everyday for the many blessings that I have.
Major: Spanish, Abigail has been involved with the EMT for Sewanee EMS program, the Outreach Trip to Costa Rica and Haiti, and was a Co-Leader on the advanced international outreach trip. She is also a member of PKE sorority, Sacristan duties at All Saints Chapel, Catechumenate Christian Fellowship organizations, a member of the Crew Team, and a member of the PRE orientation staff. She has also taken acedemic classes that relate to Service such as Biology: Food and Hunger which deals with the spiritual, physical, and social aspects of food and the lack thereof upon the individual. It studies hunger relief organizations as well as encompassing mandatory service components.
Sewanee, beyond its academic record, is known for its intimate sense of community. We live in what students often denote as the "Sewanee Bubble." This bubble is great for personal development, but we too often forget that we are member to an even larger global community. Sewanee attracts and creates students with many welldeveloped talents. What better form of application than to use these gifts for the betterment of the communities in which we live (both here and abroad)? My experiences as an EMT in the Sewanee community and a provider of aid in the Haitian community have made my post graduation decisions quite easy. I plan to attend medical school and devote my career to establishing and improving healthcare systems in communities where services are limited.
Sewanee and the Outreach Office provide countless opportunities and services that encourage students to expand the "Sewanee Bubble" and share all the blessings of our great community with others."
I grew up with people who taught me that in looking at the world, we have to look all around ourselves. Our neighbors are more than the people who live down the street. They are the people in our own community, the people in our own country, the people in our own world. As neighbors, we love, support, and live peacefully with one another. At Sewanee, that sense of community has been even more prevalent. The Sewanee community is close and tight-knit. The opportunities I have had with the outreach office have taught me to look beyond the gates and once again see and serve the larger community, both in this area and in other areas of the world.
Major: Ecology and Biodiversity. Outreach Activities: Housing Sewanee, New Orleans Outreach trip, and summer internship for Housing Sewanee. Sean is also involved with the Natural History Societ, he is an Assistant Proctor, and participates in Presbyterian Campus Ministries.
Outreach has been a vital part of my Sewanee education. I feel that there is a very finite limit to what can be learned in a class room. Rolling up your sleeves and working with people form all sorts of backgrounds and in all sorts of life situations, that is, for me, a much deeper dimension of learning. You get to see all that you learn in perspective or if your lucky in multiple perspectives. I am a biologist and an enviornmentalist, and when it comes to a fight between a community and a snail I usually side with the snail. However, after having worked with the people of Sherwood Tennessee, who have been the community in just that fight. Working with them, seeing there needs, I feel I can better appreciate both sides of the dispute.
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