The Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement (SLCE) and its subgroup Sharks and Service (SAS) are taking a winter service trip to Asheville, North Carolina from Dec. 11-17.
During the trip, NSU students will work with the YMCA of western North Carolina to build facilities, help with after-school programs and distribute food to students who are normally dependent on prepaid school lunches.
Liz Mazorowicz, graduate assistant for civic engagement, said that SLCE has had service trips since 2010, but the SAS trips began last year.
Michaela Johnson, sophomore marine biology and biology double major, said SLCE has previously hosted service trips, but they created SAS to allow students more control over planning service trips.
“Before it was more of the higher people planning all the trips, so they wanted to bring it down and give students a chance to choose a topic they’re interested in and lead a group of students to different places around the country and the world,” she said.
Johnson mentioned that the SAS trips occur quite often at NSU. SAS normally has trips about once a month; however, one trip had to be rescheduled this semester so only the winter trip will occur.
The trips have been both within the country and international and have given students new perspectives of how the rest of the world lives.
Johnson said she had an eye-opening experience when she traveled with SAS last year to Jamaica during Read Across Jamaica Day to help improve the education issue in the country.
“Before I went to Jamaica, I really didn’t understand the privilege we have of education,” she said. “We just go to school but for them it’s more of a luxury.”
Johnson also said that these trips have a huge impact on both communities and students.
“It gives [NSU] students the opportunity to learn about different cultures and situations that they may not have recognized as a problem,” she explained. “I feel that for NSU it’s more of an educational thing where students go on these trips and they come back and teach everyone else about it, and in the communities, they get to meet with us and we get to teach them about America.”
Mazorowicz said that all students are should participate in SLCE and SAS trips because they are a very unique experience to share with other NSU students.
The registration for the SAS winter trip is closed, but for more information on upcoming trips, contact Mazorowicz at em1404@nova.edu or 954-262-7297.
