Students Spend Break Volunteering in Chicago, Performing in Music City, Studying in Belize
Members of Global Service Learning won’t just be traveling to grandma’s house over the holiday.
Fifteen members of the student organization are headed to Chicago January 5-12 to participate in a variety of service activities. They are one of three student organizations and Nebraska Wesleyan classes traveling over the semester break.
Global Service Learning (GSL) coordinates monthly local service projects for the NWU campus and participates in national and international service learning projects each year.
“We selected Chicago because it is a bigger city that will allow us to see social problems at a heightened level, said GSL member and NWU junior Becca Brune.
The group will serve several organizations in Chicago. Some students will serve at Misericordia, a care community for the developmentally disabled. Others will volunteer at a homeless shelter, and an organization devoted to sustainable development.
While the students will learn about the populations they serve, organizers hope it also provides an opportunity for students to learn more about themselves too.
“What you learn about yourself through helping others is the most powerful,” she said.
Biology professor Jerry Bricker will lead a field ecology class to Belize January 3-18. Students will explore the Maya ruins, study rain forest ecology, and snorkel on the coral reef. The daily field trips will be combined with morning and evening lectures. The Biology Department leads this trip every two years alternating with marine biology trips to Honduras and tropical biology trips to Costa Rica.
Fifty-two members of the University Choir will perform a concert of global music during its annual winter tour. This year’s tour will take the ensemble to five states including Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas and Nebraska. The choir’s final stop will be a home concert at NWU’s O’Donnell Auditorium. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. This is the choir’s 37th tour across the United States. The choir has also taken eight foreign concert tours.
