Spring Break
Pilots give preview of DukeEngage projects
By: Naureen Khan
Issue date: 8/29/07 Section: News
Last update: 8/29/07 at 7:22 AM EST
Last update: 8/29/07 at 7:22 AM EST
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Although for many Duke undergraduates, summer plans often include ritzy internships or world travel, not many can boast of having crisscrossed Muhuru Bay in Kenya by bicycle with a translator in tow.
Thanks to funding from the pilot launch of DukeEngage, sophomore Lucy McKinstry did simply that-gathering data for a microfinancing survey while waorking for the Women's Institute of Secondary Education and Research, a Duke-created non-profit organization.
Although the $30-million service-learning initiative will not fully get underway until next year, approximately 90 undergraduates took on pilot projects this summer across five continents and 11 countries.
"[The pilot] was really to inform how we shaped the program," said DukeEngage Director Eric Mlyn. "We wanted to learn what works and what doesn't work and the best way to do that was to put students in the field."
Many students taking part worked on projects designed by Duke faculty and staff and said the pilots were different from other service-learning projects in which they had participated.
"It's not entirely difficult to find a volunteer program... but the thing that was different about this was that the group of Duke students that I was living and working with were just so incredibly passionate and motivated about what they were doing," said McKinistry, whose work will eventually help to finance and support the first girls' school in Muhuru Bay.
Similarly, senior Jenny Heffernan, who worked in an unpaid internship at the city of New Orleans health department, said she believes the project is exceptional in that it has enabled her to focus her studies on practical applications.
"I would very, very, very, strongly recommend this to everyone," she said. "I think the wonderful part of this experience is that, yeah, it can transform your life in general, but also your academic experience at Duke."
Other students designed projects geared toward their specific passions and interests.
Thanks to funding from the pilot launch of DukeEngage, sophomore Lucy McKinstry did simply that-gathering data for a microfinancing survey while waorking for the Women's Institute of Secondary Education and Research, a Duke-created non-profit organization.
Although the $30-million service-learning initiative will not fully get underway until next year, approximately 90 undergraduates took on pilot projects this summer across five continents and 11 countries.
"[The pilot] was really to inform how we shaped the program," said DukeEngage Director Eric Mlyn. "We wanted to learn what works and what doesn't work and the best way to do that was to put students in the field."
Many students taking part worked on projects designed by Duke faculty and staff and said the pilots were different from other service-learning projects in which they had participated.
"It's not entirely difficult to find a volunteer program... but the thing that was different about this was that the group of Duke students that I was living and working with were just so incredibly passionate and motivated about what they were doing," said McKinistry, whose work will eventually help to finance and support the first girls' school in Muhuru Bay.
Similarly, senior Jenny Heffernan, who worked in an unpaid internship at the city of New Orleans health department, said she believes the project is exceptional in that it has enabled her to focus her studies on practical applications.
"I would very, very, very, strongly recommend this to everyone," she said. "I think the wonderful part of this experience is that, yeah, it can transform your life in general, but also your academic experience at Duke."
Other students designed projects geared toward their specific passions and interests.
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