Summer beyond hedges provides invaluable lessons

Living in the city
Summer beyond hedges provides invaluable lessons

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News Staff

Rice’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) encourages students to discover, volunteer and lead. Those principles kept Rice undergraduates busy this summer as they participated in the programs run by the CCE’s three divisions: the Community Involvement Center (CIC), Leadership Rice and the Center for Civic Research and Design.

The programs support the Vision for the Second Century by fully engaging students in the partnership between Rice and Houston.

“By offering our summer programs, we aim to provide our students with a wide range of opportunities to better themselves and their communities,” said Stephanie Post, executive director of the CCE. “We want to give them the chance to make a significant contribution to Houston while furthering their educational experiences.”

Not waiting for the world to change

More than 20 incoming freshmen from around the country got a preview of what Rice is really about when they participated in the Urban Immersion (UI) program this summer. Through the program, which is part of the CIC, students worked with local agencies to perform service projects designed to meet the needs of the Houston area.

COURTESY PHOTO

Robin Richards, a particpant in the Urban Immersion program, gets down and dirty in the mud at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center.

From July 17 to 22, the new students worked together to address pressing social issues such as immigration, healthcare, the environment, education and literacy. Among other activities, the undergraduates paved a trail at the Houston Arboretum, worked at the Houston Food Bank and played with children at Casa de Esperanza.

“I really enjoyed helping out with an adult ESL class at the Community Family Center in East Houston,” said Michelle Nguyen, a Hanszen College freshman. “It was fun to see the students so excited and determined to learn English. They took the class seriously and got me really interested in education. I learned that volunteers and service work can make an honest difference.”

Nguyen plans to volunteer again with a couple of the organizations she worked with during Urban Immersion and wants to use her Rice education to further serve others.

“Although it’s been on my mind for a while, my UI experience has further encouraged me to use my knowledge, skills and career to help alleviate social issues,” Nguyen said.

Their focus on serving others united them, but the students gained valuable skills and friendships. Living in close quarters at Christ Church Cathedral downtown and working in small groups, the students enjoyed learning about Houston’s rich culture and the practical elements of navigating the city using the Metrorail system. That proved especially helpful for the out-of-state students.

“I have to admit that I was a little nervous about coming to Rice,”Nguyen said. “However, after meeting some really interesting, smart, funny and all-around great people through UI, I am definitely more excited. The program has pumped me up to be at Rice and I look forward to continuing service and making sure I am involved ‘beyond the hedges.'”

Working 9 to 5

A select group of Rice undergraduates traded their time for experience this summer and became members of the working world. Through Leadership Rice, 45 students took part in the Summer Mentor Experience (SME), which paired them with mentors from a variety of fields in Houston and other major U.S. cities.

The students spent eight to nine weeks interning with their mentors and furthering the leadership skills they acquired in their “Leadership: Theory to Practice” course. During that class, students began to see the benefits of the SME.

“Taking the class, I learned that the SME would be a great opportunity for networking and a chance to build my professional experience,” said Matthew O’Connor, a Hanszen College junior. “I didn’t realize just how much the experience would impact my career goals. I’ve always had a desire to practice law, but I didn’t really know anything about it.”

During his summer experience with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of Houston, O’Connor learned basic legal vocabulary and was told he spoke like a first-year law student. He also had the opportunity to write a legal brief.

“What makes this program so unique is that you get to work with someone who holds a high position in the organization,” O’Connor said. “My mentor was the regional attorney, James Sacher, who was really interested in making it an educational experience. He gave me quality assignments, allowed me to sit in on legal proceedings and mentored me throughout.”

Though placed with a different agency, the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, fellow SME participant Lindsay Balthrop had a similar experience.

“The Leadership Rice SME is much more than an internship,” said Balthrop, a Sid Rich College senior. “You don’t just have a boss or supervisor. You truly have a mentor — someone who is personally vested in your development as a person and as a professional.”

This summer Balthrop learned a great deal about the sports industry and the goals of different organizations. She also learned various approaches to meet those goals as she planned events and activities.

“At Rice I have learned to time-manage and get tasks done quickly,” Balthrop said. “I am able to think on my feet and creatively attack situations. Through the SME and my mentor, I got to practice those skills while learning how to interact with people. The most important thing in the working world is relationships and maintaining relationships.”

Stop, collaborate and research

From red-light cameras to free Internet access to Second Ward gentrification, the summer experiences of CCE research fellows were broad-ranging but Houston-based. The six members of the inaugural class of fellows received $4,000 each to conduct faculty-supervised research in collaboration with community partners.

Research fellow Robert Dahnke was especially drawn to the opportunity to work in his hometown. He worked with the Houston Police Department to analyze the impact of red-light cameras in the city.

COURTESY PHOTO

CCE Fellow Alley Lyles, right, chats with a community member for her project on gentrification in the Second Ward. The project is the basis for her senior honors thesis.

“It definitely wasn’t a typical summer job — to work on issues that have a real and measurable effect on people’s lives,” said Dahnke, a Martel College senior. “Houston will always hold a special meaning for me because it has provided me with so many educational, social and cultural opportunities. I was happy for the opportunity to give back.”

Dahnke’s project was an extension of his previous research studying the Hurricane Rita evacuation and the SafeClear program, but it also stemmed from personal experience making the rush-hour commute in Houston.

He approached his research with an eye toward improving what transportation systems exist by identifying what worked and what didn’t.

“It’s one thing to discuss theories in class or analyze theoretical data sets in textbooks; it’s quite another to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to ‘real-world’ projects,” Dahnke said. “I have always felt that it is important to contribute beyond the realm of academia. That is a feeling that has only been strengthened by my summer fellowship.”

The research spark lit last fall for fellow Alley Lyles when she conducted a group project on the general ramifications of development in Houston’s Second Ward. After taking Michael Emerson’s “Urban Life and Systems” course, she wanted to know more about the role of gentrification in the neighborhood.

Lyles teamed up with El Centro De Corazon and Emerson, the Allyn and Gladys Cline Professor of Sociology, and her research project took shape.

“Not only did Dr. Emerson pique my interest in the topic, but he served as a mentor to me throughout the project,” Lyles said. “Both he and Dr. Post encouraged me to remain flexible because a research topic will morph multiple times before it becomes refined.”

Lyles’ work this summer and her refined topic — gentrification in the Second Ward — is the basis for her senior sociology honors thesis. Her field research also solidified her decision to pursue her doctorate in sociology and this fall she will begin applying to graduate schools.

“Coming into Rice, I had no idea of what I wanted to do,” Lyles said. “Over the course of two years, my major changed from physics, to English, to visual arts, to psychology before finally declaring sociology. Now I am confident in my program and academic pursuits. I am so grateful to work in a small and supportive department.”

The financial support also enabled Lyles, a Martel College senior, to take on even more this summer. In addition to her research, she attended Harvard University’s Galbraith Scholars program and the Institute for the Recruitment of Teachers and earned second place for a paper she presented at the national Association of Black Sociologists conference.