Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.

Trip provides students with a unique view of America

Date: 1/5/2009

By Natasha Clark

Assistant Managing Editor



LONGMEADOW If the grass is always greener on the other side, how does one learn to appreciate the pot holes in his or her lawn? Caron Hobin, vice president for Planning and Student Development at Bay Path College, believes sampling the turf on both ends may conjure up some appreciation.

She and her colleague Robert Surburg rounded up nine undergraduates, put them on a bus on Jan. 2, and for the next eight days they will work their way down the east coast getting a taste of the highs and lows that life has to offer. "One America" is a community service road trip that provides students with a wide variety of experiences and exposure to how other Americans live.

Students will head to Washington, D.C., stopping in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania along the way. The program includes public service opportunities in local school districts and at the Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C. Participants will stay in humble surroundings at Shalom Place, a ministry of St. Luke's United Methodist Church, that seeks to provide economical hospitality and service-learning opportunities to small groups. That experience will be contrasted with a stay at award winning, five-diamond luxury the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. They will also visit a community service farm outside of Baltimore.

"I wanted to do something that would combine community service and give them a taste of what the rest of the United States looks like," Hobin said. "I do believe this trip is going to be a success. It gives us an opportunity to understand other issues. That's always a major focus of what we do here here in the curriculum on campus."

Forensic studies major Cammy Bendinelli wanted to be a part of the "One America" experience when she first heard about it, though financial issues lay in her path.

"I had heard about it before hand when the price was originally $1,500," Bendinelli shared. "The trip was underwritten by the Wal-Mart Foundation and several [Bay Path] Board of Trustees members. That lowered the price to $100. With the grace of God and the donors and stuff, I was able to become a part of this."

A good portion of the trip was also subsidized through www.nodinesmokehouse.com, where 25 percent of order purchases went toward trip fundraising.

Bendinelli, a sophomore, said she is very excited to participate in the volunteer initiatives the trip will offer with stops in places such as soup kitchens. Her mother has multiple sclerosis and she said she knows what it feels like to be in need of a helping hand. "I want to be able to leave an impact on someone's life . There were people that I never knew and they would help out any way they could," she said. "They definitely left an impact and helped me realize there are good people out there and when they are meant to come into your life, they will."

"This is a generation that is very attuned to community service," Hobin said. "You're hearing a lot about that with the inauguration of Obama and how much he hopes that youth will get involved in giving back. The students on the trip have said it is some of the most fulfilling experiences they engage in."

Hobin wants this to be a learning experience in every sense of the word, and so there will free time that the students have to learn to utilize. "I want the students to have the excitement of poring through guidebooks and [deciding] where they want to go next. I like when the unexpected happens."

"I feel that eventually on this trip I will leave with a sense of knowing that maybe I helped someone get through the day," Bendinelli added.

If the trip is as successful as Hobin hopes, it will be developed into a three-credit course and offered every January. To journal the experience, Hobin has created http://careaboutservice.blogspot.com.