Photo: Gurminder Singh and Yosuf Kushan on Lake Union in Seattle. (Jaymar Golveo photo)
By Keiana Hadjireza
University of Washington Bothell senior Feruza Ghias remained active over spring break by engaging in three out of four of the University’s alternative spring break community activities.
“I love helping people. It always makes me feel better to give a hand. I wanted to do something productive and meaningful with my time,” said Ghias, double majoring in community psychology and in society, ethics and human behavior.
Photo: Feruza Ghias in grey sweatshirt and other volunteers at SAgE Farm (Shauniece Drayton photo)
The different events taught her a lot about the importance of engaging with the community to address social and environmental issues.
At a stress-free sensory music event with special needs youth in Monroe, she helped participants play instruments to learn concepts of fast and slow and loud and quiet.
Photo: Missy Dominguez, left, Feruza Ghias, center, and Gurminder Singh at music event (Shauniece Drayton photo)
She and other UW Bothell students relocated a large greenhouse at the SAgE Farm in Woodinville and hauled in woodchips with wheel barrows. They cleared fields covered in sticks and pipes to plant vegetable and flower seeds, highlighting where food comes from and how to live sustainably.
Kayaking with the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, students scooped up litter from Seattle’s Lake Union. Facing possible budget cuts from the Environmental Protection Agency, the soundkeepers welcomed the volunteer help.
Ghias missed out on sorting and distributing food donations with a youth migrant project in Burlington.
The four events were created by UW Bothell Offices of Community-Based Learning and Research, Achieving Community Transformation, and Student Engagement and Activities.
Photo: Rupikaur Gautom, left, and Gurminder Singh at food bank. (Shauniece Drayton photo)
Ghias encourages students to participate in future events like the alternative spring break because of the impact they can make.
“It shows that our university is concerned with helping the people in our community,” she says.
