ACADEMIC SERVICE

NIKKI CHESHIRE
SECTION 4
05/02/2014
WRAP
TRT 3:30

(ANCHOR)
AT MORE AND MORE PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGES AROUND THE NATION, SERVICE
WORK IS FINDING ITS WAY INTO THE CLASSROOM TO BALANCE OUT
ACADEMICS. HERES COMRADIO REPORTER NIKKI CHESHIRE WITH MORE.

TAKE Academic Service WRAP ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3:21 RT

OFTEN TIMES, COLLEGE STUDENTS HAVE TO BALANCE THEIR
ACADEMIC LIVES WITH ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM. FOR
SOME STUDENTS, THIS INCLUDES TIME DEVOTED TO VOLUNTEERING AND
COMMUNITY SERVICE. AT SEVERAL INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE NATION
INCLUDING BROWN UNIVERSITY, STANFORD AND THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA ACADEMIC COURSES ARE BEING DESIGNED TO INCLUDE
A SERVICE COMPONENT. IN THE MEANTIME, AT PENN STATE, STUDENTS
LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES OFTEN FIND THEY STRUGGLE
TO FIT IT INTO THEIR HECTIC SCHEDULE.
ONE LOCAL OPPORTUNITY THAT ATTRACTS STUDENTS IS NITTANY
GREYHOUNDS IN PORT MATILDA. SENIOR AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE
MAJOR GIANNA MICOZZI SAYS SHE VOLUNTEERS WHEN SHE CAN,
THOUGH WISHES SHE COULD DO MORE.

(MORE)
(ACADEMIC SOT #1)
i think i've been volunteering for about two, two and a half years, ive done everything
from scoop the poop to turning the dogs out, clean the kennels, and then we also have an
event that we go to called greyhounds in gettysburg.

NITTANY GREYHOUNDS IS A NON-PROFIT FOUNDED WHEN DOG-
LOVERS ELAINE AND JOE SKIDEL FELL IN LOVE WITH THEIR RESCUE
GREYHOUND, LILY. ACCORDING TO KENNEL MANAGER ELLEN
ASCHENBRENNER, LILY WAS THE ORGANIZATIONS INSPIRATION, AND
THEIR SUCCESS HAS ONLY GROWN FROM THERE.
(ACADEMIC SOT #2)
since 1995, about 14-hundred greyhounds have been rehomed after being retired from
racing. we need volunteers to help, theres always chores to do, theres always dogs that
need to be walked and interacted with, so thats where a lot of our volunteerism comes in.
a lot of our volunteers are adopters, people who have adopted dogs from us, i'd say a bulk
of them are students from penn state.

ACCORDING TO A U-C-L-A STUDY CONDUCTED ON
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS SHOW
POSITIVE RESULTS. MORE THAN 80 PERCENT OF PARTICIPANTS STATED
THAT THEY LEARNED VALUABLE SKILLS IN ADDITION TO TESTING
HIGHER IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING.
(ACADEMIC SOT #3)
i think it helped to form who i am today, it gave me a lot of good characteristics and
morals and values. i think it helps in an academic sense because it just kinda gets your
mind open a little bit and aware of the outside world. classroom is one thing, but outside
experience is another. i think you learn more, actually, outside in work or wherever you
go than you do kind of book-based.

HOWEVER, SOMETIMES A RIGOROUS ACADEMIC LIFESTYLE CAN
CAUSE STUDENTS TO LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR THEIR
COMMUNITIES. AT PENN STATE, SOME CLASSES SUGGEST SERVICE
OPPORTUNITIES RELATED TO THE COURSE MATERIAL THAT STUDENTS
(MORE)
CAN ENGAGE IN, BUT ARENT REQUIRED. ONE SUCH CLASS IS TAUGHT BY
PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY DR. CHRISTOPHER UHL, WHO SAYS HE STRIVES
TO BRING STUDENTS AWARENESS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING
RELATIONSHIPS AND GIVING BACK.
(ACADEMIC SOT #4)
isnt it interesting, in this context, that for many penn state students, when they graduate,
one of the things that they point to as a highlight is thon. you know, for many college
students, for the only time in their whole college career, they get to be of service. they get
to give back. so part of being in service, to a larger whole, is really rethinking what
success is, and college doesnt do a very good job of helping us think about success.
because that way of understanding success so i can take, take, take that is the
antithesis really of genuine service.

AS STUDENTS CONTINUE TO FIND WAYS TO GET INVOLVED IN
THEIR COMMUNITY, ITS POSSIBLE THAT A LINK WILL GROW BETWEEN
ACADEMICS AND THE WORK THEY DO OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM. FOR
COMRADIO, IM NIKKI CHESHIRE.