by Michelle Thornton
Assistant News Editor
The Summer Service Program is offering University of La Verne students opportunities to volunteer for 10 weeks over the summer in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho.
Volunteers work in churches, camps, at the YMCA, in senior citizen homes, child care centers and with the handicapped, homeless and hungry.
“It gives the opportunity to do work on behalf of others,” said Debbie Roberts, Protestant campus minister and director of peace studies.
Currently, extensive interviews are being held for the 20 or so who have already applied. Applicants must maintain a 2.5 grade point average (GPA) and must return to ULV the following semester to be eligible for summer service.
The $2,500 scholarship that is awarded for students’ participation in the program can only be used at ULV in the following semester, therefore students would need to be enrolled at ULV to take advantage of the scholarship. Students also receive a weekly stipend of $50 that can be used for incidental expenses, such as gas or personal items.
Normally, between 15-17 students are accepted, giving preference to sophomores and juniors, primarily. Students may state a preference on which site they would like to attend and Roberts and the camp sites work to meet everyone’s needs.
Junior Chris Peterson participated in this program in the summer of 1996. He was a camp counselor and a mountain bike instructor at a YMCA camp in Big Bear, Calif. At Camp Oakes, Peterson supervised a cabin of boys between the ages of 8-15.
“I learned a lot about myself. I was trying to help these kids figure out what they were about and that helped me figure out about me,” he said.
Peterson called his experience at Camp Oakes a stepping stone that helped him turn his life around.
“Going into that, [summer service] I was unsure of where I was going. It kind of gave me some clarity,” said Peterson.
The interviews for the positions are done in groups of three to five students. Scenarios are given to each group and they must act as if they are recounting the story to friends after they have completed the summer service program. The group must show how they handled the situation in a mature and appropriate manner.
Scenarios such as dealing with ethnic conflicts or possible living arrangements are dealt with.
Students who have been accepted into the program will know by April 1. The exact date for each student’s departure depends on which site they have chosen and how soon they are needed.
After interviews have been addressed and the selections have been made, students go through an entire day of training sessions. Training consists of discussions on relating to others, review of the sites and what to expect, and consideration on how to conduct oneself as a representative of ULV.
Roberts said that most of the students will be working in camp-like sites doing a lot of manual labor, like cooking and cleaning.
Alen Zilic, a freshman, said that summer service allowed him to “see part of the U. S., Oregon, to meet nice people, and to tell you how it was to work in the kitchen. Not fun.”
Zilic worked at Camp Myrtlewood in Oregon last summer, where he mostly cooked in the kitchen and cleaned up camp. He also meet with a group of high school students once a week and planned activities.
Jason Flick, senior, also worked at Camp Myrtlewood and did much of the same things as Zilic.
“It made me enjoy life and living life without all the problems. It is just living in the country and enjoy each day,” said Flick.
Not only does this summer program fill the service learning general education requirement, but it also allows students to build their leadership and service skills, and to set spiritual goals for themselves as well.
“You come back wiser and more able to lead,” said Roberts.
