UVU Column: UVU students mark 25 years of service
UVU Center for Social Impact Recognition Luncheon on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Thursday April 25, 2019. (August Miller, UVU Marketing)
UVU Center for Social Impact Recognition Luncheon on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Thursday April 25, 2019. (August Miller, UVU Marketing)
For decades, the image of college students on spring break has denoted expensive beach trips, extensive partying and often bad behavior. Utah Valley University students are working to change that attitude, choosing instead to do service projects during the break from classes.
Those who volunteer for such projects are coordinated by the university’s Center for Social Impact. On April 25, that group, the Service Council, celebrated its 25th anniversary of assisting individuals in need, and assisting students to find worthwhile projects.
Through the years, the students have learned about the communities they serve prior to embarking on a project.
Summer Valente, director of the Center for Social Impact, has been working with the program for six years. She said the students learn about the communities first in an effort to find out what the communities need, rather than imposing their view of what they might need.
“This is how they approach making social change,” she said. “The students are trained first on this concept before they go out into the community.”
Individuals in the communities served can see the help they receive, and oftentimes that has been the focus. There is another side to the story, however.
“Students learn to think more objectively through these activities,” Valente said. “They are often immersed, putting themselves into a situation as closely as possible. The best way to learn is by experience.”
On one trip to Portland, Oregon, the students worked with two nonprofit organizations, focusing on hunger and the homeless.
One group worked at Blanchett House, which was a former brothel transformed into a transitional housing facility serving three meals a day to those in need.
“The students passed out the food and bussed tables,” said Bjorn Engebretsen, a student who was the group’s trip leader. “It pushed them to be able to engage with the people rather than ignore them or focus on what could be a hostile environment. It’s easy to disrespect them and not give them the dignity they deserve. This place broke those stereotypes.”
In the evenings, there was a dinner with a guest speaker who told the story about being homeless, how it happened, and how they got out of that situation.
The students slept on the floor in a community center. It was still nicer than what most homeless experience, Engebretsen said.
“You realize how vulnerable these people are. Getting that perspective from many angles helps the students see the whole picture,” Engebretsen said.
The impact on the students has remained with them through the years.
“My time in the Service Council at Utah Valley University didn’t just shape and mold my collegiate experience, but it drastically changed my career trajectory,” said Jaxon Olsen, an alumnus or the program. “I learned how to critically think through complex problems that face my community. It made me realize that complex problems often require complex solutions.” It has also changed the way he will care for others.
“As I go through medical school, I realize that the lessons I learned in the Service Council have impacted the way I view patients, public health, and how I can make the biggest impact for my community. Without the Service Council, I wouldn’t be planning on working in the public sector and advocating for policies that will positively impact the health of my future patients.”
Zach Peterson, another alumnus of the Service Council, also praised the program.
“Of all my experiences at UVU, including the classes I took and lectures I attended, it was on the Service Council that I learned some of the lessons I consider most valuable,” he said. “Not only did I improve my classic skills such as leadership, event planning, and team building, but I also learned how to be sensitive to cultures other than my own, how to communicate with those who have opinions that differ from mine, and how to use my voice to stand up for those who may not have one.”
He said the council prepared him for multiple areas of his future.
“I know that because of my experiences here I am set up for a more successful life, both a professional and as a human being. The Service Council truly blessed all aspects of my life, and I will be forever grateful for the time I had here and the people I got to share it with,” he said.
