STILL LIVING MERCY Students who complete the Beyond the Gates experience will be ready to go forward and lead with conviction – frst as students and later as graduates. It’s clear that the call to service still lives in Mercyhurst alumni, wherever they are. Below, see a few snapshots from recent service projects completed by alumni chapters in Erie, Cleveland and New York City.
Above: Larry Staub at the Pennsylvania Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home Right: Students Monica Tinsley and Tessa Sayre play games with English language learners at Pfeifer-Burleigh School.
- BTG gave Logan, an Erie resident who’s double majoring in intelligence studies and political science, a chance to experience the diversity of his hometown. He added, “I fnd it hopeful that so many people are excited to engage the community and give back. We’re both giving and receiving that Mercy mission at the same time.” For Kailee Gorczyca, working with the Gliding Stars program was a natural choice. She’d been fgure skating since she was 6 and, even though she was no longer competing, she found herself missing it. She spent Monday nights throughout her freshman year at the Mercyhurst Ice Center helping special needs individuals of all ages enjoy her favorite sport. She expects to do her BTG experience there this fall. “She didn’t have a good foundation to do the math,” he recalled, “and the courses were online, which made it 10 times more difcult.”Together, they worked through each problem on her practice tests, and she completed three classes with his help. Besides developing special relationships with the skaters she was paired with, she also taught them life lessons – like how to fall and then get back up again. “Our motto was ‘I can do it. I can skate,’ which was really empowering for these kids,” she said.
- Tessa Sayre acknowledged she was very nervous when she started her placement at Pfeifer Burleigh Elementary School. “I can be really shy and wasn’t sure the kids were going to like me, plus there was a language barrier to overcome,” she said. “I wasn’t very experienced socializing with diferent types of people.” To help English language learners at the school, Mercyhurst volunteers brought in a tub of board and card games. Playing Uno, Chutes & Ladders, Connect Four and Jenga helped students hone their language skills and learn colors, numbers and shapes, all while having fun. “We were living the Mercy Mission in a class,” she added. “I still can’t believe I get to be part of it.” A Cleveland resident, she’s majoring in sports medicine and pre-med. “The unexpected was a little scary,” she added, “but I realized that kids, wherever they come from, are just kids.” With fve years of Spanish study, she was able to ask one of her students questions in his native tongue. “I was reaching out halfway, and I think it got him to trust me a little bit.”Tessa’s a psychology major from Albion, Pennsylvania.
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