Students work to become active citizens through AWOL

For some University of South Dakota students, their weekend was spent working to grow as citizens through service.

A group of 12 students volunteered at the Teddy Bear Den and with Volunteers of America Nov. 15 in Sioux Falls through the Alternative Week of Off-Campus Learning program.

Students helped sort donations and move cribs from storage to the Teddy Bear Den site to be ready for distribution to economically disadvantaged pregnant women. They moved on to the VOA building at about noon Saturday to help with the Spirit Tree, which collects gifts for children, and help organize coat drives.

One of the key components of the AWOL program is the active citizen continuum, which consists of varying stages, said third-year law student Sara Hento.

She said each stage shows how a person grows from simply being a community member to a person who participates in charities but doesn’t really know about the social issues to finally becoming an active citizen in the last stage.

“On the far side of the continuum is the active citizen, and that is someone who not only knows the social issue and understands its impact but also goes out into the community to try to solve it,” Hento said. “Our goal is basically to move students from being a community member to being an active citizen.”

Hento, who is doing her graduate work with the Center for Academic and Global Engagement, said students are generally involved in the AWOL program for one main reason.

“I would say the majority of the students do it because they’re interested in the community partner we’re working with or the social issue,” Hento said.

Sophomore Sidney Heisler, one of the trip’s site leaders over the weekend, said her passion is helping others.

“I love helping people and being involved,” she said.

Heisler said volunteering and being a part of an organization like AWOL helps get students out of their comfort zones.

“It just shows them what the real world is actually like, and they get to know one another and other communities outside their own,” she said.

Sophomore Shane Hansen said AWOL is a program that humanizes world issues and is a way to make friends.

“I want to help out other families and everything like that, but one reason is because I do need the volunteer hours,” Hansen said.

He said he doesn’t like to single out one cause and would rather work with a variety of organizations to expand his volunteering experience.

Being involved in the AWOL program not only allows students to acquire volunteer hours but also to be involved in communities surrounding USD.

“I think you take both from (the AWOL experiences),” Heisler said. “You take the hours from it and the experience.”

Hento said AWOL is a learning tool for students as well as a portal to getting involved with the social issues of the visited communities.

“AWOL isn’t just a volunteer program,” Hento said. “We also teach students about these social issues and who they can have an impact on — not only the people in our community, but in the country and the world.”

(Photo: Members of the University of South Dakota Alternative Week of Off-Campus Learning program traveled to Sioux Falls Nov. 15 to help sort donations and move cribs for the Teddy Bear Den charity organization. The Teddy Bear Den helps disadvantaged pregnant women in the Sioux Falls area seek early and regular prenatal care. Submitted photo / The Volante)