FYSOP at 18: More Work and More Fun

Most BU freshmen spent last weekend frantically unpacking, decorating their rooms, and locating their classroom buildings. But by the time her roommates arrived on Saturday, Brianna Wehrs (CAS’11) already knew her way around campus and had made some friends, sampled the ice cream at J. P. Licks, and volunteered on a small farm north of the city.  

Wehrs, who comes from Austin, Tex., participated in the First-Year Student Outreach Project (FYSOP) along with 573 other freshmen. Celebrating its 18th year at BU’s Community Service Center, the program enables incoming students to arrive on campus early, learn about the issue they’ve chosen, and spend three days volunteering throughout greater Boston.

“I knew community service was something I wanted to pursue in college,” Wehrs says, “and I thought this would be a great introduction.”

FYSOP volunteers select one of nine issue areas — children, disabilities, elders, the environment, gender focus, HIV/AIDS awareness, homelessness and housing, human rights, and hunger — and learn about how it affects the city and its residents. By the end of the week, they will have clocked more than 13,000 hours of service.
 
The human rights issue area is new this fall, says Doug Ely (CAS’09), FYSOP’s program manager. “We wanted to expand the program without marginalizing the quality of service in the other issue areas,” he says. “Advocacy, grassroots activism, and global-scale awareness — in other words, human rights issues — were areas we thought could be better addressed.”

Last Thursday, one of the human rights groups joined members of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP) at Richardson’s Dairy, a farm in Dracut, Mass. The day’s tasks included weeding a large strawberry patch and preparing a greenhouse for winter.

A nonprofit partnership, NESFP assists economically disadvantaged farmers — particularly immigrants from Southeast Asia, West Africa, and South America — through education and training programs, business and enterprise development, and production and marketing assistance. Before setting out for the field, Jennifer Hashley, NESFP’s project manager, issued gardening gloves and a welcome directive: “Eat as many strawberries as you like.” 

Kneeling in rows, their bright green T-shirts glowing under the hot August sun, the students carefully pulled weeds from around the strawberry plants. “The berries are so cute,” says Nicole Cousins (COM’11), from Clifton, N.J., before popping one into her mouth. “And delicious!”

Before signing up for FYSOP, Amanda Parker (COM’11) of Bristol, Conn., had never even visited a farm, much less worked on one. “I’m a little out of my comfort zone,” she says, flinching at a nearby spider. “Weeding isn’t hard. I just need to get past the bugs.”

While many volunteers join FYSOP because they were involved with community service projects in high school, others sign up to make new friends before the semester begins. “I ended up living in nonfreshman housing,” says Taylor O’Brien (SMG’11) of Chicago, Ill., “and I thought this would be a good way to meet my classmates.

“Truthfully, I didn’t expect to make any community service commitments once FYSOP ended,” O’Brien continues. “But yesterday we painted the inside of this house, and it was really cool to see such immediate results. Now I might change my mind about volunteering.”

The next morning, students working in the elders group prepared for a day of heavy lifting. After a bumpy ride and several wrong turns, their vans pulled up to a two-story home in Brighton. The owner, now in his 70s, had lived in the house for more than 40 years and was relocating to a small apartment in Boston’s South End — with the help of 17 FYSOP volunteers.

Tamara Luna, a social worker with Ethos, a nonprofit organization that promotes independence, dignity, and well-being among the elderly and mentally disabled, ushered the students into a tiny kitchen crammed with boxes. “Everything goes,” she says, handing a student a large crate.    

Within 20 minutes, the first van was fully loaded, and the students piled into the second van and headed toward the South End. “Unlike today, Wednesday and Thursday were pretty low-impact,” says Jackson Sandeen (COM’11) of Houston, Tex. “We visited with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. I played chess and poker and did some puzzles. It was fun, kind of like being a kid again.”

This is Kyle Langan’s second time working with the elderly — last year as a freshman volunteer and this year as a staff member. “I just think this is a really important issue,” he says. “It’s insulting the way our culture trivializes the elder population. These are the same people who took care of us when we were children. Shouldn’t we show them the same love?”

Langan (CAS’10) is one of more than 170 former FYSOP first-years who return every fall as staff members or coordinators. “I’ll be back next year, too,” says Rachel Vannice (CAS’10). “It’s a fantastic way to start off the new school year.” 

Vicky Waltz can be reached at vwaltz@bu.edu.