Poster Presentations at Student Center: How English 3202 Served their Community

On March 7 of 2019, Edward Contreras, the coordinator of English 3202, invited Her Campus to an event hosted by the class of at the Student Center. The event was about different groups of student presenting different community service projects they had done throughout the semester.

The purpose English 3202 is to enhance work skills and learning how to perfect your resume. Edward Contreras and his fellow instructors thought that the best way for them to learn about this as well as help them gain work experience was to perform an act of community service. The Poster Presentation helps them develop confidence in public speaking skills as if they ever have to do a poster presentation for a job or academic conference, especially if they plan on becoming scholars after the university.  

Here are some of the many groups who did their presentations and did their part to help the community:

Michael and Jose based their community service on using social media to create awareness and organize a fundraiser for Hope for a Rescue, a student association that fosters and arranges adoption for animals. The fundraiser they organized selling frappe and a bake sale, and all the money from that fundraiser went to Hope for a Rescue.

This is the link to the Hope for a Rescue Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/hopeforarescue/

Canine Operations, composed of Ayesha, Jasarel, Jesset and Deuel along with 10 other students, did their community service at the Villa Michelle Animal Shelter in Mayaguez and Martir Sanctuary in San Sebastian. They spoke about their experience volunteering and how they were happy to help the owner of Villa Michelle in particular clean the shelter in time for an inspection that was happening later that week.

Link to the Facebook page of Villa Michelle

https://www.facebook.com/villamichelle.albergue/

Link to the Fabebook page of Martir Sanctuary:

https://www.facebook.com/SantuarioSSM/

Iviann Aguila and Jereil Rivera volunteered at a local up and coming animal shelter

that is run by a student of UPRM, Daniel Rodriguez. So far the shelter has 13 dogs and since its still very new,it’s looking for help from the community.

This is the link to their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/animaldenshelter/

On February 28, Kenniel and Selmary were able organize a dinner at Chardon Square for students who struggled with obtaining food after Hurricane Maria, and fed 120 students at the activity.

Adellianne and Domilid organized a food drive, called the Hope Box, for students who lack resources and can’t get a proper meal everyday. The were able to hand 53 boxes with groceries to students in need.

Genesis, Kevin Saul and Allison presented a project on how Art Therapy can help manage stress for university students and even did a social experiment at the Student Center, where student were presented with art supplies and paper, and many students did feel relaxed after the experiment.

Jose, Abel and Genesis volunteered at the Casa Linda Nursing Home and Brisas de Amor Nursing Home in Mayaguez, and helped the elderly through physical exercise and cognitive exercises, as well as helping them with agriculture, personal care and Arts&Crafts.  

Bianca, Alejandra, Herionex and Angelo named their project “Recycling for a better Campus,” which included a collaboration with the Cafeteria Committee of the RUM and many other collaborations. Their project consisted of instructing students on how to create less waste. They did that by creating different stations in the cafeteria one for the recyclable materials and, later created compost from the leftover food for the Finca Alzamora.

This is one of the most extensive projects I saw that day and if you want to learn more about it, you can

contact rolando.cruz@upr.edu  

Yaneiska and Adrian organized a beach cleanup at Crash Boat beach in Rincon, and all the trash that was picked up that day was given to a recycling center in Aguadilla.

Merlian, Genesis, Steven and Katiria organized orientations at Mayaguez Academy and Eugenio Maria de Hostos high Schools. They explained to high school students the process of applying to a university, and what they need to do it, as well as the process of applying for scholarships. Many of the high school students they spoke weren’t planning on going to college until they did their orientation, so they were very happy with the results of their project.

The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez is an integral part of the community, students  should be given the tools and knowledge to be able to help their community, and ask for help in return if they need it. By the English 3202 class organizing this community service project they aren’t just helping the community, but also motivating other students and professors to endeavor into similar projects. This was truly a remarkable event because showed how when groups of people work together they can make a difference for the better. I hope the English 3202 class continues with these projects in the future.