Though classes were more than a week away, students participating in Wash U’s Leadership Through Service pre-orientation program already had a full load. After eating breakfast at an hour most college students try to avoid, they ventured off campus into St. Louis, another thing many students avoid.
“I think this set of students see things in St. Louis that their peers will never see,” said Stephanie Kurtzman, advisor to LTS. “They get to talk about things facing the people in this region and do, by some standards, more community service than some people will do.”
Three days offered a wide sampling of what the world outside the Wash U Bubble has to offer. Students visited plant nurseries, food banks and shelters. They took an inner city tour that included Clinton-Peabody Public Housing Projects, which stuck out in the mind of freshman Kevin Sullivan after his first day of LTS.
“Our first day was a lot different than I thought it would be,” Sullivan said, before hurrying off to the next activity. “I thought we’d mainly be doing service projects but we also ended up on this tour. It was a pretty eye opening experience for lots of people.”
The next day found the LTS crew at Faith House, a home for abused and neglected children. For freshman Amber Barkly, it was a chance to learn some baby talk.
“These kids were at a stage where they can’t talk, but they make sounds, so you have to guess what they mean,” said Barkly. “That was really fun. We read Dr. Suess and then they all wanted to be airplanes so I swung them around.”
Even without the kids around, there were plenty of fun and games. Participants soon shared a bond known only by those subjected to moderately embarrassing team-building activities.
“We’ve had a chance to get to know each other and play some ice-breaking games, which is a good thing, because we’re all incoming freshmen,” said Dan Tilden, who found himself an impromptu spokesman for the “Dreidl Extreme” during one game.
LTS has become a tradition sustained by past participants who keep coming back for more. Gillian Fairchild, a coordinator, got a head start on her own freshman year through LTS two years ago.
“Before LTS, I didn’t really have any experience at Wash U,” said Fairchild, just before the arrival of the new recruits. “But I met a great group of friends that I’m still really close to and [LTS] just helped me find myself and where I wanted to go at college.”
Fairchild’s co-coordinator, junior Rajeev Jahagirdar, remembers playing checkers with residents of a nursing home, which, just two years later, closed due to lack of funding.
“You’re at Wash U to get an education, but through service you see and learn about what’s bigger than you,” said Jahagirdar. “I think LTS shows that you can use that education as a tool to change the community.”