By CLARA MAYNARD
The Parthenon
Several students from the Marshall Habitat for Humanity chapter will spend their spring break in Eustis, Florida as part of the collegiate challenge.
Chapter president and senior biology major Dalton Border said it would be his first time participating in the collegiate challenge.
“As you know, Boston College comes down regularly and Johns Hopkins comes down regularly and I just thought, ‘hey, that sounds pretty cool,’” Border said. “So I started looking into it.”
Border said the group will primarily work on houses in the Lake Sumter area.
“Tuesday through Friday are gonna be the typical days,” Border said. “It’s 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. and we’re going to be working on the job site just like we would be working on the job site up here.”
Border said the location and set up of the collegiate challenge would allow the group to enjoy some Florida tourist attractions.
“It’s close to all of the fun things in Florida,” Border said. “It’s 45 minutes from Orlando, less than an hour and a half from either beach on either side of it.”
Border said he plans on having a balance of fun and work during the trip.
“You’re in Florida, so take advantage of it,” Border said. “We’re going to be busy. We’re going to have to wake up at 6:30-7 a.m. every day and probably won’t get back until midnight everyday, but a little bit of work and a little bit of play.”
Border said he believes the importance of the collegiate challenge is to learn more about a community outside of your own.
“You might not realize it until you come out and work with our Habitat for Humanity here or do other things in the community,” Border said. “But it’s important, in my opinion, to see how every community—what their problems are, what they’re facing, what their challenges are.”
Although it is too late for Marshall students to sign up for this trip, Border said the chapter is always looking for new members.
“It is too late to go on this trip, but hopefully this campus chapter will exist forever,” Border said. “I’ll be leaving this year so it won’t be under my control much longer, but we accept members any time during the semester, any time during the year.”
Border said he believes the organization is a great way to help yourself and your community at the same time.
“You’re helping yourself become a little more independent,” Border said. “If you learn these skills and you own a house down the road and maybe you’re like, ‘oh, I learned how to do this on that Habitat build that one day,’ you don’t have to call in a carpenter to fix one little thing.”
Clinical psychology doctorate student Sarah Reynolds said she has worked with the Huntington Area Habitat for Humanity several times, but this is her first time doing the collegiate challenge.
“I am most excited to meet new people who also enjoy working with Habitat,” Reynolds said. “The Habitat community is so welcoming and appreciative of volunteers. I am also excited to spend more time in Florida sunshine.”
Reynolds agreed with Border about having an equal balance of work and play.
“Although we will be spending a good amount of time working, we also have some free time to enjoy Florida,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said she believes it is important to return the favor of other universities that help out the Huntington area through Habitat.
“I think the collegiate challenge is important because it gives us a chance to help people in another community,” Reynolds said. “Different universities are sent every year to work in Huntington for a week, so it only seems fair that we do the same.”
Clara Maynard can be contacted at [email protected].