Full Immersion
A week of service can change everything
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BY ESTUARDO GARCIA, ’18 M.A.
t’s 4:30 in the morning and Bill Kriege, director of campus ministry, waits in the parking lot of the community center, ready to load the shuttle bus with luggage and students who are anxiously awaiting their international flights.
These early-morning airport runs have become a semesterly tradition for Kriege, who is in charge of planning service immersion trips for the University. For him, the travel days are the most nerve-wracking part of the week. He won’t get much rest until he knows all planes have successfully landed and students have reached their destinations, but it’s worth it for him because of the invaluable service these trips provide to students. “We are counting that this will be a transformative experience that will change them for the rest of their lives,” he said. He believes there is something powerful and profound when the students work shoulder to shoulder with the people of the area, break bread with them and pray and reflect with each other. Continued on page 19
During the 2017-18 academic year, 83 students and 16 faculty and staff companions traveled to service sites in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, New York, Philadelphia and Houston during the winter, spring and summer months.
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SUMMER 2018