(Dec. 21, 2017) -- Winter break is typically a time for students to catch up on sleep and spend time with family. Several students and staff members from The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will roll up their sleeves over break to help fellow Texans who are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey.
UTSA Volunteer Services is sponsoring an Alternative Winter Break trip to Beaumont, Jan. 3 to 6, 2018. Eighteen UTSA students are partnering with Community Collaborations International to clean up homes damaged during the storm.
“So many people went to Houston and other areas in Texas right after the hurricane,” said Brandi Raschke, program manager for UTSA Student Center for Community Engagement and Inclusion. “Three months later, there is still destruction. There are still people without jobs and living in shelters and hotels because their homes aren’t livable yet.”
As an Alternative Winter Break team leader, Cameron Nguyen, a San Antonio native majoring in computer science and statistics, chose this volunteer opportunity because it hit so close to home.
“I hope to have a better understanding of what communities go through in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Harvey,” Nguyen said. “I want to come back to UTSA feeling like I made a positive impact and be inspired to continue helping in my community.”
Maria Guerra Garcia, a biomedical engineering and neurobiology senior and first-generation Roadrunner originally from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, has a heart for helping. This will be her fourth alternative break experience, an opportunity she says she couldn’t do without support from UTSA.
“This alternative break will allow me to finally be able to donate my time and give my undivided attention to serve those affected,” Garcia said. “I hope I can leave Beaumont with a stronger sense of what it is to be homeless and how severely natural disasters affects people. I also hope to motivate and inspire others to serve those that aren't as fortunate as us.”
Nguyen echoes the sentiment.
“Volunteering was never my first thought whenever I had a break from school, but it is now,” Nguyen said. “These experiences really are a lot of fun and are very rewarding knowing you’ve made a difference for a community in need.”
Garcia says she’s also learned a lot out from the experiences.
“The UTSA Alternative Winter Break program exposes you to things you'd never think you'd ever had the opportunity to learn to do,” Garcia said. “I've learned how to compost material, pick and plant cotton, efficiently and effectively pull weeds, and even bathe horses.”
In addition to building pride and a sense of accomplishment, Raschke said volunteering helps students when they graduate and go out into the job force. To a prospective employer, volunteering shows that UTSA students know how to work as a team. It also demonstrates that they want to go above and beyond by taking on new challenges, helping others and contributing to society.
“It encourages you to build meaningful relationships with others and improve both your leadership and communication skills,” Garcia added. ”I'd highly recommend the experience to all Roadrunners.”
UTSA Volunteer Services also funds the majority of the trips.
Learn more and apply for Alternative Spring Break 2018.
Learn more about UTSA Volunteer Services.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Join UTSA Libraries and Museums to learn more about the publishing discounts available for UTSA researchers. Current agreements include Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Springer Open, and more. Please bring your questions and feedback for the library as we continue to pursue partnerships with publishers to reduce costs for our researchers.
Virtual EventYou have probably heard of the term “fair use,” but how comfortable do you feel with navigating U.S. copyright law? For instance, did you know you are not required to register your copyrighted work with the U.S. Copyright Office? Join us for a hands-on workshop about the basics of copyright, both in education and as a researcher. We’ll dispel some common copyright myths and differences between copyright law and other intellectual property law and teach you how to apply a Fair Use checklist to your scholarly work.
Virtual EventDon’t mind the writing but hate formatting citations and bibliographies? Working on your thesis or dissertation, or even a long paper this semester? Citation managers such as Zotero® can help you store and organize the citations you find during your research. Take part in this session about using Zotero®.
Virtual EventIn this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to have EndNote already installed on a personal computer.
Virtual EventFeaturing UTSA alumni John Seesholtz and Melissa Lubecke Serabia. The program will be focused on Latin American Art Song. Free and open to the public.
UTSA Recital HallPressbooks is an open educational resource authoring platform for simple book publishing. Upon completion of the Pressbooks Basic workshop attendees will be able to: create a new book, clone an existing book, remix chapters from a variety of different Creative Commons licensed books, add media and other content to a book, export a book in a wide range of formats.
Virtual EventJoin Community-Engaged Digital Scholarship Hub (CEDISH) and the Digital Humanities Student Association (DHSO) at UTSA for an enlightening workshop on "Responsible Datasets in Context," sponsored by the Mozilla Foundation. Participants will gain insights into creating contextually rich datasets, developing data essays, and crafting effective visualizations.
Assembly Room, 4th Floor (4.04.22), John Peace LibraryThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.