Sourced: Samer Daboul
Sharks and Service
NSU’s Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement’s (SLCE) Sharks and Service (SAS) trips for winter will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, on Dec. 7-14 and Dec. 8-14, respectively. Both trips will focus on relief from damages left by Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. “It’s going to be interesting because we’re going to have both of them go out at the same time and then have the same reorientation process. We’re hoping to do those two groups together,” said Alisha Nelson, the graduate assistant for service initiatives. “The one group going to New Orleans will talk about what hurricane relief looks like even 15 years later and same with Hurricane Harvey, what it looks like two years later.” Students who go on the SAS trip to New Orleans will also be partnering and working with NSU undergraduate public health students for half of the week
Both trips require education and some amount of manual labor, and Nelson said not to really think of them as “breaks,” although students will have at least a half-day to explore the area. “We make sure our basic needs are met, which means you’ll have a bed of some sort, you’ll have a roof over your head but it’s nothing like hotel living, it’s not a five star resort. It’s a cost-effective type of trip where we’re learning and growing together,” explained Nelson. There are fees associated with both trips, although Nelson said they try to keep the domestic trips under $400, which can be paid in payments. It has not yet been decided if the Houston trip will require airfare, therefore the exact price of the trips has not been determined. SAS will have several different fundraising opportunities to help cover costs as well. Students can apply for either trip beginning Oct. 1 on SharkHub.
Service in the City
The Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (SLCE) will host a series of service trips through their community service outreach known as Service in the City. Service in the City is one of the many opportunities available to students that focuses on community engagement and volunteer work. On the NSU website, the SLCE Office states their mission is “committed to empowering students with leadership and service-based educational opportunities that promote critical and creative thinking and inspire action.”
Service in the City trips run on either Tuesdays or Thursdays throughout the year and are generally held between 5 and 8 p.m. Upcoming trips for the Fall 2019 semester will take place on Thursday, Sept. 26, Tuesday, Oct. 8, Tuesday, Oct. 22 and Thursday, Nov. 21. Students who attend will be working with Hope South Florida, a non-profit organization in the Fort Lauderdale area that provides emergency shelter, housing assistance and support services to thousands of homeless families, veterans and individuals. Students will be assisting with meal service for homeless individuals in Broward County. Transportation to and from the event will be provided.
Emily Konicki, a Programming Assistant with the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement and a masters student at NSU, highlighted the benefits of attending these trips. She said, “You definitely feel more connected to your community and in my opinion you can feel more connected to yourself as well because you see the small things you volunteer with can have the biggest impact. [You can also] make relationships with individuals you meet at these events. You learn so much, it’s hard to say what you’ll learn exactly because it depends on the site, but every trip and every student comes back and wants to do more.”
Students can sign up for any of the upcoming trips on SharkHub. Deadlines vary per event, but students can always check SharkHub for available spots.
The SLCE Office can also work with an organization to document service hours if at least two members of the organization attend. For more information, students can contact the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at slce@nova.edu or (954) 262-7195.
