Urban Immersion gives students taste of Rice

Urban Immersion gives students taste of Rice
Program increases drive to serve

BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff

When they arrived in Houston this summer for Urban Immersion, more than 45 incoming freshmen got a taste of what it means to be Rice students. The students spent a week of their summer giving back to the community that will be their home for the next four years.

Made possible by Rice’s Community Involvement Center, Urban Immersion (UI) is an intensive, service-oriented program aimed at introducing students to Houston through cultural experiences and service opportunities, such as building houses, working with children and feeding the hungry.

	COURTESY PHOTO
	Urban Immersion is an intensive, service-oriented program aimed at introducing students to Houston through cultural experiences and service opportunities, such as building houses, working with children and feeding the hungry.

The students worked with local organizations such as Bo’s Place, DePelchin Children’s Center, Habitat for Humanity and the Houston Food Bank to identify and meet the organizations’ needs. They also lived together at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston.

Though the goal of the program is to teach the students about Houston, it seems the students ended up learning more about themselves, each other and all that Rice has in store.

The rest of the freshmen class will have similar opportunities to discover Houston during Outreach Day of O-week Aug. 23. More than 350 new students participated last year sorting clothes at the Houston Area Women’s Center Second-to-None Retail Shop, cleaning the Bering Omega AIDS Hospice, building a house with Habitat for Humanity, painting a homeless shelter, washing dogs at the Humane Society and taking children to the zoo.

After their thought-provoking and bond-building summer experience, the UI students are looking forward to Outreach Day and their next four years.

Gabe Cuadra, Will Rice College

“This week we put in a couple hours in several organizations, As Greg Mortenson said in ‘Three Cups of Tea,’ that is ‘just a drop in the ocean.’ At the same time though, the ocean is that much higher because of our work. And I hope that the drops we made this week serve as a precursor to a storm in whatever we decide to pursue.

“I’ve never really understood why people made a big deal about going to Rice. After this week, I’m starting to understand. The people here are really special, not only intellectually but also in terms of their background, maturity and drive.”

Urban Immersion
Learn more about the program that gets Rice freshmen out into the community
Community Involvement Center
Learn how you can get involved in the community through Rice’s Community Involvement Center
Enstin Ye, Jones College

“I came into Urban Immersion with the expectations of opening my eyes to the problems of urban Houston and learning more about the downtown area. Although I had a lot of volunteer experiences in high school, it was mostly with much less dire issues — I volunteered at our new library and the nursing home in suburbia.

“UI fulfilled all of my expectations and more. Not only did we go to eight different organizations, but I also realized the complex issues facing these nonprofits. And of course, I met a lot of amazing, talented and caring people here that I will get to go to school with for the next four years.”

Amy Ewbank, Lovett College

“I was thrilled when we discussed compassion in our opening reflections and a few people commented that the key to compassion is regarding those we’re serving with equality. All too often I have found myself criticizing and making judgments about other people, and I thought that if I could find a deeper understanding of people, I could act more out of love rather than judgment.

“Because I was able to release my previous judgments that homeless people were uneducated and ignorant, I got to see some great people with original ideas, questions and perspectives. They were my teachers of compassion just by being themselves. Every person with or without a home is so much more than a mouth to feed, a job to find or a social problem to fix. Their minds and spirits are as bright as anyone I have ever met, and I thank them for giving me the chance to see that.”

Allen Liao, Wiess College
 
“Coming into this program I was just looking for a good time, some new food and meeting new people while doing something productive with my summer. In this very short time, I’ve grown close to this amazing group of people and seen how passionate and diverse everyone is. I look forward to going to school with so many amazing people. But not only that, I gained a lot of perspective through the experiences we have shared.

“Volunteer work always came second to academics and other more ‘important’ stuff, but working with all these different agencies has made me realize that I want to continue serving the community, that the little time that I spend can make a whole lot of difference. I hope that during my time at Rice I will be able to find something that I am truly passionate and interested about — something that I am truly motivated to work in, both in the fields of academics and community service.”

Alexa Li, Baker College

“It seemed as if all through high school, I was volunteering for myself, for resumes, for college. I think what I got most out of this experience was the amazing amount of good-hearted people in this world. Just seeing the effort and hard work of all the nonprofit organizations made me realize that change can occur with little steps.

“This was such an amazing week and by far the best days of my summer. Being able to experience the passion of educators, students and leaders has inspired me in so many ways.”

For more information on Urban Immersion and O-Week Outreach Day, visit http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~service/.