ISU Bengal

Issue date: 2/2/05 Section: Life

Although spring break is two and a half months away, there is no shortage of preparation for the Student Community Service Center's (SCSC) upcoming service project, commonly referred to as alternative spring break.

This year, students will travel to Puerto Rico, where they will take part in building trails through a preserve in the country's forest known as Las Casas de la Selva, or The Houses of the Forest.

For about 15 years now the Center has sent a few lucky students, along with advisors, to various locations around the globe. Twenty-three students, selected by a "drawing from a hat", and the two advisors, Linda Burke and Edna Thompson, make for twenty-five travelers. Last year the SCSC sent students to New York, where students helped with various service projects.

"We thought it would be good to go somewhere a little warmer," says Thompson.

Puerto Rico is a place that has seen three hurricanes in the last year. It is also an area where many cultures are present, making it a place students can learn a lot through interaction with both the environment and the people. Both Burke and Thompson look forward to this trip for many reasons.

"It's a good way for students to get out and serve the needs of a community," says Burke. She also cited the diversity of contacts as a benefit of the service project.

Thompson, who is from Puerto Rico, says recognition of common human elements is a great reason to go.

"Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S., so there are many elements that students will find the same," says Thompson. "Puerto Ricans are very welcoming, and I think that the students will feel that."

Both Burke and Thompson feel like the students get a good level of development in interpersonal dynamics.

"You're in a group with twenty-four other people," says Thompson. She added that on every trip, friends are made, and dynamics and ideas are challenged.

Burke discussed the interaction in terms of the Puerto Rican population and the preserve workforce "There are people from all over the world and from all walks of life," says Burke.

Burke also said that the preserve manager is British and scientists who work in the park are from many different nations.

Students will also get a taste of the culture when the group visits San Juan. While the advisors hope the students enjoy themselves, they also want the young adults to see the many sides of the city, especially the more downtrodden areas of the community.

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