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Show Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 AggieLife Page 7 Clubs: Opportunities to do more than homework -continued from page 5 Aggie Health Aggie Health provides students with health-related majors with opportunities to promote the health of both local and international communities through clinics, screenings and education. Project PALS PALS is a youth mentoring program in which students are matched with 6- to 16-year-olds in Cache Valley and spend time with them weekly in one-on-one activities or group events. Aggie Recyclers Aggie Recyclers aims to serve the community and environment by educating people on how to live in a sustainable way. They are involved with recycling on campus as well as promoting other sustainable practices. Senior University Senior University provides weekly on-campus classes for seniors citizens taught by USU professors. Aggie Special Olympics Team Special Olympics is designed to give people with disabilities the opportunity to participate in sports. With four different seasons to choose from, athletes can participate in a wide variety of sports including basketball, swimming, snowshoeing, volleyball and soccer. Volunteers help coach and train athletes while developing relationships that can last a lifetime. Aggies for Africa Aggies for Africa raises awareness of issues occurring in Africa and participates in fundraising efforts for non-profits such as Mali Rising and Invisible Children. Alternative Breaks Alternative Breaks gives students the opportunity to spend time off from school providing meaningful service. Activities include local projects, fundraising and service trips across the country. The next activity is a Spring Break service trip. In the past, students have served in New Orleans, La., Galveston, Texas and Hawaii. Plans for the 2010 Spring Break trip are being made for a humanitarian trip to Hawaii. THE OSAKA CASTLE IN JAPAN is one of the places Tyler Tribett visited while in Japan. Tribett lived in Japan for a year as part of the USU Study Abroad program. photo courtesy TYLER TRIBETT Japan: Adventures at YNU -continued from page 5 I could practice at the driving range between goings to the golf course. Ojima also treated me to dinner on numerous occasions and was the last person I saw in Japan because he gave me a ride to the airport, which is about two hours away from Yokohama. Thanks to Ojima my stay was better than I imagined it could be. Aside from golf, I did attend the university. When I got to school the first day the International Student Center had an opening ceremony for our group of about 30 exchange students. Here I met the people that would be my family for the next year. They had classes especially for exchange students that we attended together. The classes offered ranged from business classes to history classes and some education classes. The university has clubs, or circles as they call them over there, that have various different interest groups. They had everything from dance circles and basketball circles to people who like ice cream and speaking English. I joined a basketball circle where I played about once a week. I also joined a couple international mingling circles where the exchange students would gather with Japanese students regularly and we would go out together and they would drink or we would go to karaoke and such. Occasionally, we would organize an event such as a barbeque near the beach or a one-day trip to a tourist spot or whatever. Through these different associations at school and through the International Student Center, I made hundreds of friends at school and in the community. I keep in touch with as many of them as I can and I am looking forward to the day when I can see some of them again. There isn’t a better alternative to connecting with the international community than by studying abroad. Your language skills improve, your knowledge of the world and people grow, you make great friends and the experiences are invaluable. If you have the opportunity to study abroad I would recommend doing an entire year but even a semester overseas would be awesome. Take it from someone who spent a year with the samurai. Tyler Tribett is a senior in international business. For more information regarding the Study Abroad program at USU, visit the USU Study Abroad Fair Sept. 15, in the International Lounge in the Taggart Student Center. S.T.A.R. S.T.A.R. stands for Students Teaching Arithmetic and Reading. Volunteers give one-on-one tutoring in both reading and math to elementary school students in various schools in Cache Valley. S.T.I.C.K.S. S.T.I.C.K.S. is a tutoring program for middle school students in math and reading, motivating students to prepare for college. Service-Learning Scholars Program The Service-Learning Scholars Program helps students combine service with their academic experience. Students learn hands-on by serving in campus and in the community, relating directly to coursework they are taking for an applied learning experience. Spanish Ambassadors Speak Spanish? Spanish Ambassadors is a program that partners with the Hispanic community in Logan with after-school programs, ESL classes, Spanish and translations classes. Best Buddies Best Buddies pair college students with an intellectually disabled member of the community to develop one-on-one friendships. Special Olympic Games Special Olympic Games volunteers help organize area competitions and with National Special Olympic qualifying games at USU. Volunteers help to recruit more volunteers, time events, organize entertainment for athletes and prepare athletes before the race. Events include swimming, powerlifting, gymnastics, basketball and track and field events. Community Partnerships Community Partnerships help students get involved in service in Cache Valley by working with local non-profits. Volunteers also help with other programs in the Val R. Christensen Service Center when additional volunteers are needed. S.T.E.P. S.T.E.P. stands for Students Together Ending Poverty. Volunteers work to alleviate hunger and homelessness in the state of Utah and complete projects to aid people around the world suffering from poverty. Friends of the Elderly Friends of the Elderly provides the opportunity for students to serve senior citizens in Cache Valley. Students either develop oneon-one relationships or participate in organized group activities held in various nursing homes and retirement communities. Storytellers Storyteller volunteers promote literacy among children through tutoring in reading at local elementary schools and helping with Literacy Fairs throughout Cache Valley. Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity volunteers build simple, decent, affordable housing in partnership with those in need of adequate shelter. Volunteers of every experience level are invited to help enhance the lives of those in need of shelter locally. United Campus Volunteers United Campus Volunteers organizes a monthly service project for people who love to serve with others. Volunteers have a variety of projects they can participate in throughout the year to meet the needs of the community. Information about service clubs compiled from www.usu.edu/ asusu. –karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu |