By Lian Bunny
Photo Editor
While Olean’s weather dipped below 30 degrees, St. Bonaventure student Lizzy Austin, a junior education major, soaked in the sun in the Bahamas.
But, Austin and her 40 classmates were not there to simply bask in the warmth.
Austin gazed up at a home in the Freeport area.
The house had no roof.
“I saw all of the damage that had been done, and I thought there was no way were we even going to put a dent in what needed to be done,” said Austin. “But by about day four the house looked like a whole new place.”
A hurricane had wiped out the home’s owner, nicknamed “Fritz.” He had previously lost a leg to diabetes and was unable to do repairs himself. Before the group of students arrived, Fritz had gone three months without a bed to sleep in, as well as no power at his house and no roof over his head.
“I have never seen college students work as hard as we did, and it was so rewarding to see the difference we made,” said Austin.
The students are part of ENACTUS, a Bonaventure club, are dedicated to help students gain leadership experience, teamwork skills and an entrepreneurial mindset.
ENACTUS students traveled to the Bahamas in early January, completing the club’s 14th annual Bahamas trip.
Club members split into groups, including a team for consulting with businesses, education, research, media and service, according to Todd Palmer, the club’s advisor.
The consulting group worked with four different businesses. Education and science students worked with about 1,000 primary students and others worked with 200 high school students, Palmer said.
Grace Neylan, a senior accounting major and ENACTUS president, said this year students focused on earth science. Club members taught kids about topics such as recycling, barometric pressure and meteorology.
The research team examined study skills and memory retention among students, Neylan said. Researchers looked at whether students learned more effectively from power points versus videos. Students used tests to determine how well the information was retained and now await follow-up test results from the Bohemian teachers.
Club members involved in marketing and communication gave presentations on the importance and uses of social media, Palmer said. Students worked on their projects for 50 to 60 hours before presenting them.
The service team worked on repairing two houses in the Bahamas. Austin said for a few days, the whole ENACTUS crew took a break from their major-specific tasks to do community service.
The teams were not made of just Bona’s students, according to Palmer. The club has partnered with the University of the Bahamas, and about 30 students joined the ENACTUS group.
“This year was really, really good, because I don’t want to have two separate teams,” said Palmer. “I want to have one team with two divisions. The Bahamian students were so excited. It was amazing.”
He also said eight Bahamian students plan to come to Bonaventure in March to receive training in leadership, communication, team building, project management and technology.
Austin said she has a lot of great memories from the Bahamas trip.
“Before leaving the trip at an ENACTUS meeting, I remember Dr. Palmer, telling us that doing service for others brings out the best in people,” said Austin. “And boy, was he correct. I learned so much about my peers on this trip and I would consider many of them my best friends now. It was amazing and extremely rewarding to see how hard everyone worked to help people other than themselves.”
bunnyla13@bonaventure.edu
