Clare Wise, a junior dietetics major, spent her spring break teaching children in West Virginia how to live healthy lifestyles.
Image Credit: Clare Wise
Clare Wise, a junior dietetics major and global poverty minor from Towson, Md., had not chosen a major when she came to the University of Maryland, but after meeting with Margaret Udahogora, the director of the undergraduate dietetics program, she immediately knew that dietetics was the one for her.
She decided to seek out volunteering opportunities related to dietetics and found the Alternative Breaks program to be a perfect fit.
“I just got really interested beyond the resume-building aspect. The social issues that they covered with those trips were very interesting to me,” Wise said.
Last year she traveled to West Virginia to participate in a new alternative breaks trip called “Balancing the Scale: Childhood Nutrition in Huntington, West Virginia.” According to 2012-2013 survey data released by Gallup and Healthways in April, Huntington residents were more likely to be obese than any other American. To address this issue, trip participants volunteered with local health organizations to educate children about good nutrition and healthy diets.
Wise was one of two students who led the trip this year and said the experience exceeded her expectations.
“I didn’t expect to learn as much as I did,” Wise said. “I went in with the mindset that I was going to be the leader and see a lot of growth from my participants. I learned so much more about being an effective leader and I came back with a whole new perspective.”
Wise said it was challenging to tailor her volunteering to fit the needs of Huntington residents, but she said this was the most important thing she learned from leading the trip.
“The greatest takeaway I think was really learning more about what it means to serve and learning how to use my knowledge and resources in a way that is really effective and useful to the people I’m serving,” Wise said.
One of Wise’s major goals on the trip was to affirm the university's relationship with the Huntington community. Trip participants have stayed in touch with Huntington residents since returning from this year’s trip, hoping to show how much they care about the community and prove they are not just a “team of outsiders,” Wise said.
“I think coming back and staying with the same people and doing a lot of the same things helped us solidify ourselves in the Huntington community and help them see that we’re not just there for a week but that we’re interested in having a sustainable relationship with them,” she said.
Courtney Holder, the coordinator of immersion experiences at UMD, said Wise is the type of student that makes an impression on you, even if you only meet her in passing.
“She has a very contagious, enthusiastic personality and makes anyone she speaks with feel like an instant friend, feel welcome and feel important in her eyes,” Holder said.
As an alternative breaks leader, Holder said Wise is dedicated to educating herself about the trip’s focus issues but also motivates her peers to do the same.
“Her passion and excitement about issues of food security and nutrition really make it easier for others to get excited about it as well,” Holder said. “I think that’s just such an awesome quality not just for alternative breaks leaders but also students and people who want to make a difference.”
When Wise isn’t preparing for an alternative breaks trip, she helps recruit prospective students as an AGNR Ambassador. She said this experience has given her a chance to interact with AGNR students who are pursuing different careers.
“It’s really been interesting meeting and hearing about the other majors and starting to think about how I will be working with people of other backgrounds in the future and how to really tie in those different areas,” Wise said. “Even though they seem unrelated, they can really help each other out.”
Next year Wise will be a student intern for the Alternative Breaks program. She encourages all students at the university to find opportunities to use their skills to serve others, even they are not volunteering in a way directly related to their studies.
“You really can use your strengths and skills to serve a community. You just have to figure out how your skills can be used,” Wise said.
