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During spring break, The Office of Service and Social Action in Campus Life offers a program known as Wake Alternative Break (WAB). This program provides a number of service trips, both domestic and international. (See this WFU news story to learn about the most recent WAB trips.)
Over the past few months, a group of staff at ZSR and Campus Life collaborated to create a “Staycation,” a WAB trip offered to students who do not leave campus during spring break.
The Staycation took place Sunday, March 9th until Friday, March 14th. The trip was themed broadly around “Literacy”- (specifically language, technology, and information literacy). Six students, led by their student leaders Hannah Duane and Nora Kane, served their community and spent their afternoons volunteering at El Buen Pastor in Winston-Salem. During the morning however, they engaged in sessions with ZSR Staff.
The trip was packed with fun programs and events, and I had the privilege to coordinate and participate in many of them. I would like to share a few highlights from this fantastic week!
On the first night, ZSR hosted a kick-off pizza party after hours. The students loved being in the library late at night, and spent hours searching through the topographical maps of southeastern states that were offered!
On Monday morning, the Staycationers met with librarian Amanda Foster, and participated in her Lib-100 class. This was followed by a bell tower tour at the top of Wait Chapel. Associate Dean Susan Smith and I joined the students, and I was thrilled that we were not only able to go to the very top, but we were able to play “Dear Old Wake Forest” on the actual bells!
On Tuesday the Staycationers met with Director of Special Collections, Tanya Zanish-Belcher, and got a behind-the-scenes tour of Special Collections. They were enthused by the library’s vast collection, and were very surprised to learn about all the work that goes in to acquisitions, exhibitions, and preservation of rare books.
Our very own Hu and Roz kicked off a bright and bubbly Wednesday morning session on “all things Zotero,” which the students found extremely helpful! Wake Forest Fellow Linsday Schneider and I took the students to lunch at The Loop to discuss leadership, the meaning of pro-humanitate, and the importance of work-life balance in college. After a crazy afternoon thunderstorm, I met with the students for dinner at ZSR after hours again, and we proceeded to Creekside Bowling for some fun bonding time!
On the last day of the trip the students met with research librarian Sarah Jeong, and learned all about her knowledge and expertise on the sciences! Shortly after, the Staycationers went to Hanging Rock State Park to hike together. It was a gorgeous Friday afternoon!
I was so excited the group posted reflections from the week on their Tumblr. The social media presence was entertaining, and the students created #staycation #stayawesome together.
We are so happy that the students had a wonderful trip filled with opportunities to learn and serve. I hope that Staycation becomes a tradition between ZSR and Campus Life!