Service Learning

Hammond, Louisiana 

Are you interested in traveling? Do you have a passion to serve those in need? Do you want to use your engineering skills to help those less fortunate than you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, listen up! There are so many opportunities to participate in service learning at Penn State, and personally, I think being involved in service learning is one of the most rewarding experiences. 

Service learning is a fancy term that means students are helping those in need while personally learning new skills by working on engineering problems.  Service learning can take place within the United States or in third world countries across the globe.  

There are several organizations at Penn State that work in third world countries.  One of these organizations is Bridges to Prosperity (B2P).  We just started a Penn State Chapter of Bridges to Prosperity in January 2013, so we are in the process of working on our first project.  We will be working in Panama to build a pedestrian bridge to help B2P in their mission to eliminate poverty due to rural isolation.  Our suspended bridge will provide access to healthcare, education, and market opportunities.  We will be working closely with the community starting this summer (August 2013), and then we will travel back to Panama in May 2014 to build the bridge that we designed.  There are so many ways to get involved, and no past experience or skills are needed.  Since we are such a new organization, we are all learning together.  So if you are interested in improving your communication skills, learning to work as a part of a multicultural team, planning trips to foreign nations, designing a pedestrian bridge, planning construction, or helping to fundraise, you should definitely join. 

Another organization that works abroad is Engineers Without Borders (EWB).  EWB is currently working in Baoma, Sierra Leone.  Our Penn State Chapter has completed a latrine project for the community and is currently working on completing a water sanitation project.  These projects are not only complex from an engineering point of view, but they are also complicated due to the location and lack of supplies, equipment, and skilled labor.  Since our chapter has been working with the same community for several years, they have built a strong relationship with the people there, allowing them to continue to stay in contact in the future. EWB works on a variety of projects, which allows students to gain valuable skills in a variety of different areas. 

In addition to working abroad, there are many opportunities to serve in State College and all over the United States.  The Penn State Chapter of EWB also works in the United States.  For the past three years, they have traveled during spring break to work with the Fuller Center for Housing.  I have had the opportunity to go to Georgia and Louisiana during spring break to work on building houses for underprivileged families.  Not only did I learn valuable skills, such as teamwork, homebuilding, and safety, but I also had a blast!

So if you don’t mind getting down and dirty, I encourage you to look into getting involved in a service learning organization at Penn State.  It might just change your life. 

Jen with fellow volunteers helping to
build a house in Lake Blackshear, Georgia

Jennifer Kearney is a junior in Civil Engineering. She is working for Johnson, Mirmiran, and Thompson (JMT) this summer in York, PA.  Jen is a mentor for WEPO 2013.To read more about Jen visit her WEPO Profile: 
http://raindancer45.wix.com/ladyengineers#!jennifer-kearney/c1ue3