While some relished in the newness of summer vacation or eagerly counted down the days until the end of the Summer A session, a handful of UCF honors students were given the opportunity to do some service-learning in the Saint Kitts and Nevis Islands in the Caribbean last month.
Nine students were selected through the President’s Scholars Program, which is provided by the Burnett Honors College.
According to the Burnett Honors College website, in order for students to qualify for the trip, they must take honors classes, have two full years remaining at UCF by the time they apply, have a minimum 3.8 GPA and must be involved on campus and in the community.
If a student meets these qualifications, then he or she has to fill out an application and go through the selection process, which includes an in-person interview, a thorough look at the student’s transcripts, letters of recommendation and a written essay.
The nine students chosen for this year’s trip were given four weeks to academically prepare for it.
According to Martin Dupuis, the assistant dean at the Burnett Honors College and one of the instructors who went on the trip, the students had to attend four weeks of lectures on campus.
Some of the speakers included Linda Walters, a biology professor who spoke on coral reefs, John Weishampel, a biology professor who lectured on rainforests, and Kevin Meehan, an associate professor of English who led a discussion on Caribbean literature.
The students and the instructors spent two weeks on the islands.
Dupuis said the trip was designed “to give students a study abroad experience that also gives them a competitive edge for prestigious scholarships.”
“This trip is very hands-on, and by allowing them to work side by side with the local people, other students and professionals, it also becomes service-learning,” Dupuis said.
During their stay in Saint Kitts, the students were broken up into three groups and assigned one project. Anna Burns, a freshman pre-med student, was part of the public health group that shadowed doctors at the John N. Plant General Hospital.
For three days, Burns and other pre-med students worked at all of the hospital’s 13 wards.
“It was an awesome opportunity,” Burns said. “We’re all undergrad pre-med students, and in America, it’s so hard to find an opportunity to work in that kind of environment because of all of the regulations that prevent us from doing so.
“This also gave us the chance to see how a hospital in another place works. It’s a different set up in the islands.”
In Nevis, the students were broken up into two groups, an oral history group and an African drumming group.
Because the oral history group worked with the archeological institute of the island, Burns and other group members took part in an archeological dig on a cliff side.
“You couldn’t take two steps without stepping on pottery or bones,” Burns said of the site.
There, the students worked side-by-side with directors from the archeological institute and were informed on some of the history of the site.
Brittany Broder, a second-year mechanical engineering major, was part of the environmental group during her stay in Saint Kitts. Broder and her group members spent three days at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College learning about sustainable agriculture.
“We learned all about organoponic and hydroponic farming while we were at the local college,” Broder said. “We also visited some typical and organoponic farms in Saint Kitts.
Overall, I thought it was a fantastic experience. I loved every minute of it, and I was surprised when I got into the program. It was amazing.”
After leaving Saint Kitts, Broder and some other students were part of the African drumming group in Nevis.
“I got to learn about the cultural significance of African drums and some traditional drum patterns and beats,” Broder said. “I also learned about masquerade dances that are performed during Christmas and special celebrations, and I got to try some of the steps.”
The third group was the education group, which got to refurbish a computer and science lab at a local elementary school.
Murals of the solar system, rainforest and sea were painted on the walls, and supplies and equipment were donated through a partnership between UCF, DHL Shipping, the business community and local Saint Kitts organizations.
This was the most fully developed project, and it ended with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that was attended by the minister of education in Saint Kitts.
This is the third year that the President’s Scholars Program has offered a service-learning trip to Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The Burnett Honors College and its first- and second-year students look forward to future trips and remain excited about their connections around the world.