SERVICE WITH A DISTINCTLY MERCY FLAVOR By Sue Corbran
Lauren Abbott at Neighborhood Art House
- “As much as our students are giving, they’re receiving just as much in return,” Hurley observed. “The experience can be life changing, because they’re opened up to a whole new worldview.” Some students head across the country or around the world on service trips, but most work with one of more than 30 Erie-area nonprofts serving the hungry, the homeless, at-risk youths, refugees or the elderly. Each community partner refects Mercyhurst’s Core Values and the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and each assignment calls for person-to-person interaction with people in need. Like the Sisters of Mercy who left the cloister to work directly with those in need, students literally go beyond Mercyhurst’s iconic front gates. But they’re also challenged to go beyond some internal gates, to overcome anxieties and fears that may have held them back from engaging with “the other,” people who are diferent from them in some way. On paper, it’s a requirement. Mercyhurst students must earn one credit – out of the 121 credits they need to graduate – through a service-learning experience “Beyond the Gates.” But Director of Community Engagement Colin Hurley prefers to think of it as an opportunity – a chance for students to challenge preconceived notions, broaden their horizons, and perhaps even be changed for the better.
Hurley and Assistant Director of Community Engagement Bethany Brun spend months coordinating the placements. They have to balance the needs of the community agencies with the academic, personal and career interests of the students, and then work around each student’s unique weekly schedule. A series of written refections helps students to assess where they started, where they fnished, and how they were transformed by their work. About 550 Mercyhurst sophomores completed their Beyond the Gates (BTG) experiences during the program’s frst year. With each spending at least 12 hours in the community, that’s well over 6,000 hours of direct service. Just as important, though, was what the collegians took away from the experience. Larry Staub’s BTG assignment took him to the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home, where he spent most of his time in a special unit for those with dementia. Sometimes he was the bingo caller, other times the “pin-setter-upper” for some hallway bowling. He particularly liked helping with music therapy. Each patient has his own playlist of familiar music, he explained. “It was breathtaking to watch. Once they recognized a song, it seemed to fip something in their brains. They’d smile, or sing along, and sometimes even dance.”
- Lauren Abbott, an Erie native majoring in intelligence studies, found herself in a familiar setting for her BTG placement: the Inner City Neighborhood Art House. She spent many summers there as a child, taking part in creative arts and crafts. Today the Art House provides classes in the visual, performing and literary arts and a safe, caring environment for at risk children. Lauren assisted the teachers or helped improve literacy with Hooked on Books. Once she even got to fll in for the ailing dance teacher. “This experience really let me see how we embody the Sisters of Mercy and their mission as a university,” she said. “I can apply what I’m learning and actually make a diference in people’s lives.” “It was disheartening to see vets who’ve done so much for our country now being able to do so little. But it was so rewarding to see them experience the music,” Larry added. He’s a business management and marketing major from Rochester, New York. Logan Ford mentored and tutored students in an after-school program at Erie’s Quality of Life Learning Center. He particularly remembers working with a young woman nearing graduation from high school who hoped to become a nurse’s aide. To reach that goal, she had to quickly complete several math courses.
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