Collegiate Challenge
Students Travel to Georgia for Collegiate Challenge Trip
Over Spring Break, a group of ten students from the Susquehanna University Chapter of Habitat
for Humanity participated in a Collegiate Challenge Trip to Statesboro, Georgia. Collegiate Challenge
is a nation-wide program through Habitat for Humanity where college students from across the nation volunteer
their spring breaks to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity affiliates.
SU Habitat for Humanity had been planning the Spring Break trip since the beginning of the academic year.
Sophomore Alex Nagy, the Collegiate Challenge Coordinator worked tirelessly throughout the year to plan all
the details of the trip and correspond with the Bulloch County Habitat for Humanity.
The students participating in the trip were Sarah Brennan, Liz Bovee, John Crouch, Jen McGovern, Alex Nagy,
Ian Nevans, Chantal Notarstefano, Claire Polcrack, Spencer Smith, and Matthew Taylor.
The group drove the 13 hours down to Statesboro, Georgia. Once in Statesboro, they stayed at the WW Mann
Center, a beautiful summer camp located just outside of Statesboro with several other students participating
in Collegiate Challenge from the University of North Carolina Asheville.
Each day the students would work all day at the build site. On the first day the cement for the foundation
of the home was poured and by the end of the week all the major walls of the house had been constructed and
framed and the OSB boards for the outside walls had been placed on the sides. The work that the students did
during the course of the week put the Bulloch County Habitat for Humanity several weeks ahead of schedule.
In addition to working on homes, the members of the team also got to experience Georgia’s southern
hospitality. The group was hosted at two of Statesboro’s churches, the First African Baptist and United
Methodist, for dinners. On Thursday, the work day ended at noon and the group visited Tybee Island and
Savannah. The last night of the trip, members experienced their first “low country boil,” which consisted
of boiled shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob, and potatoes served on a plastic tablecloth.
Throughout the entire week members made lasting friendships with the students from UNCA and the other
members of the community. Students bonded over the proper technique of nailing together bridges between
wall studs and delicious southern food. The trip was an amazing and rewarding experience for all those
involved.
|
