Special Report: NICC students took a service trip to Boston

Recently 24 NICC students and four faculty/staff members took a service learning trip to Boston, where they served a variety of non-profit organizations and charitable causes through the Center for Student Missions (CSM).

Students and staff describe the spring break trip as "eye-opening" and "engaging," allowing them to "understand another person's story."  The NICC service trip to a city each year often widens students' worldviews and concern for others.

 "I thought I had empathy before, but after this trip, I definitely can do more and have a different outlook," said Brianna Lee, a second-year Dairy Science student from West Union who will graduate in May. "I learned to look at people, develop empathy and to understand another person's story."

While in Boston, NICC students especially enjoyed the challenge of the immersion experience, where students are each given $2 and instructed to feed themselves and a homeless person they encounter during the day.

"We came across a homeless couple in the city, and we asked if they wanted to share pizzas with us," explained Allison Kuboushek, a student from Spillville who is entering the Associate Degree Nursing program at NICC. "Pretty soon, so many other homeless people showed up and even started fighting verbally with the couple we initially met and wanted to help."

NICC Student Life, Diversity and Leadership Assistant Director Troy Vande Lune, who accompanied the students on the trip, said "What we learned about homeless individuals is that it's a community; people know each other as homeless citizens. When our students made contact with the two homeless persons, they really were engaging an entire community, not just the couple they met," Vande Lune said.