Two groups of incoming freshmen will be spending Welcome Week getting to know D.C. and helping out in the community through the programs Discover D.C. and the Freshman Service Experience.
Freshman Service Experience
Many incoming freshman are participating in the Freshman Service Experience, a program that enables students to complete service projects on various work sites in the D.C. area over the course of three days.
This year’s 650 FSE participants will be providing maintenance work, face-to-face service and non-profit office support at over 52 organizations and schools in D.C., according to Sara Stahlberg, a senior in the School of Communication and an FSE coordinator.
When the service programs are completed, students can choose to attend a variety of evening programs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. These include a screening of a documentary about the Barry Farms neighborhood in Southeast and a performance from dance crew Beat Ya Feet Kings.
Stahlberg hopes that students will be inspired by this year’s FSE theme — “A Passion for D.C.” — to embrace the city and learn more about what they can do to give back.
“I believe it is important for incoming students to embrace this and to devote themselves to D.C, as it is not only where they go to school, but their new home,” Stahlberg said.
Discover D.C.
Discover D.C. helps freshmen learn more about the neighborhoods of D.C. and about what role each community plays in the larger framework of the city. Groups of 10 or 12 students take self-guided tours and are given one-day Metro passes to discover one of 21 different neighborhoods in D.C.
Sami Green, a junior in the School of Public Affairs and a Discover D.C. leader, said she and her fellow Discover D.C. coordinators worked hard over the summer to revamp the program. The program this year will be more community-based and more geared towards educating students about the cultures of neighborhoods in D.C.
“We want to make Discover D.C. more focused on learning about culture, and not just have it be a filler during Welcome Week,” Green said.
Most of the changes being made to Discover D.C. this year are in response to the growing number of students in the program. Over 400 freshmen are participating this year, up from 350 last year. Green noted that demand has always been high for Discover D.C. — the program took on more leaders this year to make the program open to more students.
Green hopes that freshmen participating in Discover D.C. this year will enjoy the experience and will learn about what it means to be a resident of the city.
“We want to make the students more comfortable in their environment, and we want to make them feel more at home,” Green said. “We want to help them seek out new neighborhoods and become engaged in their community.”
jryan@theeagleonline.com
