SUF students/volunteers at the Fenice Center for homeless at the candle-making workshop
I studied at Syracuse University in Florence in the Spring of 2012 and it was the first time I committed myself to participating in a volunteer program. The program gives American students the opportunity to know diverse parts of Florentine reality and much more.
SUF students/volunteers at the felt workshop for elderly
Some of the activities I participated in were candle-making with homeless people at the Fenice center, knitting blankets for a retirement home, a felt workshop with the elderly, and reading stories in English to Italian children in elementary school. What I enjoyed most was my experience with the children. Being able to work with children is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have. Cultural differences and language barriers are set aside, and the joy of seeing a child’s face light up when he or she learns something new is the most exciting thing to witness.
Morgan Slade (the second from the left) in Florence
As a volunteer I realized that it is important to get off campus and really be part of the city and give something to the community. Therefore I have replicated that relationship back home in the United States with a collaborative program between a local museum, the Packwood House Museum, and the Donald L.Heither Community Center, a non-profit association that hosts afterschool activities for children in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
I designed a creative-writing workshop for children that targets a group of 20-25 children ranging in age from five to 13 years. It has an interdisciplinary approach, allowing the children to explore artworks of the museum by taking pictures and recording their observations before they write their own personal stories.
As an art history major, it is great to realize the practical applications for what I am learning: I am not merely sitting in a classroom looking at slides but am out in my community actively contributing to the education of children. I am therefore very grateful for the experiences I had in Florence, which helped me realize how capable we are as students to make a difference in our communities.
* Morgan Slade ’13 is an Art History and Italian Studies major at Bucknell University. She is a SUF alumnus, Spring 2012
