COOL freshmen

As the school year starts and many new incoming students enter their first year of college one can imagine the anxiety many of them are experiencing. At the University of Evansville, located in Indiana, most of the incoming freshmen decided to work off some of that anxiety by performing service tasks at a variety of places in the city.

The program, optional to the students, took the freshmen to about 20 different sites to help with beautification, cleaning, office tasks, activities, and various other projects. The project isn't just about serving the community, many who participated express that it is a good way for students to meet peers and people in the community, as well as learning about Evansville and what it has to offer.

Freshmen aren't the only ones who lend a hand, "A lot of us continue (service) through the rest of our student career," said Brian Knowles who participated as a freshman two years ago, "I know some people that are alumni and still volunteer."

The University has a great reputation for performing service throughout the community, in 2009 alone its students performed more than 20,000 hours of volunteer service. Geoff Edwards, director of UE's Center for Student Engagement expresses, "We take service seriously, and we highly encourage it. We train to ingrain it into the culture of what it is to be a UE student."

Dana Clayton, Vice President of Student Affairs, states of the service program, "It was a wonderful day to emphasize to our students our commitment to service in the community."

Here's to you freshmen, who more than likely would have been sleeping in and worrying about what the new school year has in store for you. Your commitment to service is much appreciated and sets quite an example to the freshmen of tomorrow, best of luck to you-stay positive, stay generous, and STAY COOL!

What do you think of the University of Evansville's community service project and the freshmen that participated in it?