Students skip the sun, head for the mountains

TUNOMUKWATHI ASINO

For most people, spring break is a time to lay back and relax. Fourteen students and staff members from Cabrini College spent their spring break differently. They spent their break in Gilbert, W.Va. doing manual work. The students and staff members were repairing a house damaged by a flood. The group put a frame around the house to protect it from the flood and also spackled and painted.

Phil Nicolo, a junior sociology and criminal justice major, as well as a student leader of the group, said that trips like this are important because “they help people keep in touch with reality.” Nicolo also feels that trips like this “break people from the shells that they are living in” by exposing them to different communities.

Jori Edwards, a junior elementary education major, is also one of 12 students who went to Gilbert. Edwards said she liked the trip and it was not what she expected. “Glad I came,” Edwards said. She continued by saying that the trip was an eyeopener and never knew that people, “live like this,” referring to the poor conditions that the peo- ple of Gilbert were living in. Edwards said that no matter how much people helped, more is still needed to be done.

Cari Magoffin, a junior history and political science major, is another student that took part in the trip. “It was interesting,” Magoffin said. She said that she realized that many people were living in poverty and they need our help.

The 12 students were accom- panied by Tammy Fritz, the Norristown partnership organizer, and Jennine Donnelly, the assistant director of co-op services. Meghan Hurley, a junior English and communication major, was the other student leader.

Donnelly said that she took part in the trip because she “wanted to do something nice and spend time with students.”

The group left Feb. 26 and returned March 3. In Gilbert, the students and staff lived in a house with Rev. Harry Drake of West Virginia Ministry of Advocacy and Workplaces. Drake worked with the group on the site.

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