Connecting Out, Looking In

“I’ll never use a plastic bag again,” declared first-year student Rachel Brannock, her nose wrinkled in distaste at the trash in her gloved hand. Meanwhile, Rachel’s peers slogged through the Gwynns Falls Stream behind her, the dull roar of I-95 in the background on a Friday afternoon.

The Baltimore native was one of 440 first-year students who—along with peer mentors, staff, and faculty—participated in Goucher Connects, a new orientation service event held on August 22. The experience took Gophers to six sites around Baltimore City to work with local groups on environmental projects.

Rachel had no qualms about the activity, saying she was “pretty excited to get in here and do some local stuff.”

Director of Community-Based Learning Cass Freedland, who organized the event with Associate Director of Community-Based Learning Lindsay Johnson, said it was the first year Goucher, or any college she knows of, has done such a wide-reaching community service project.

“It was a big deal in terms of planning and organizing,” Freedland said of the off-campus outing geared toward helping first-year students’ build relationships and reflect meaningfully on what it means to make connections to people, places, and causes. The preparation paid off, with positive feedback coming from all involved. “Goucher sets the bar high, and it was an incredibly positive way to start the semester,” Freedland added.

Though the goal was to get students to connect with one another, as well as with faculty and staff, Freedland said they also hoped students would feel connected to the Baltimore area and see themselves as involved, effective citizens. “We wanted them to learn how service is in the DNA of Goucher and how they can be a part of it,” she said.

Liz Ryan, a sophomore orientation mentor from Pennsylvania, said she was impressed at a lot of the students’ attitudes and pride regarding the project. She thinks the physical act of getting off campus to work opens doors that may not always be present in a normal classroom setting. “I think it helps ground them, and if you start by doing that, then they’re more open to talking to people they might not have met before,” she said.

In a nod to Goucher’s long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability, students were sent to work with environmentally themed organizations—Baltimore Recreation and Parks, Baltimore Tree Trust, Blue Water Baltimore, Civic Works, and Parks & People Foundation.

goucherconnects3

Around 120 additional students, staff, and faculty joined the first-year students, including Provost Marc Roy, who picked through poison ivy to retrieve an abandoned children’s bike by a stream; Vice President and Dean of Students Bryan Coker, who got his hands dirty with some “fragrant” compost at an urban farm; and President José Bowen, who rode a bus to East Baltimore and helped dig out and plant Caliper trees. “It was hard work, and it was fun work,” Bowen said. “It was a great day.”

AJ Bhadai, a first-year student from New York, worked at the Blue Water Baltimore stream clean-up site. He said he had met new classmates and relished the experience. “We’re just really privileged to go to a nice school, and it’s nice to have an opportunity to give back,” he said.

Classmate Alexis Regopoulos, a first-year student from Massachusetts who listed a single Ugg boot as her most interesting find of the day, agreed. “It already looks so much better,” she said of their service site after their hard, sweaty work.

Click here to see the Flickr photo album.

 

Scroll to Top