one day at a time LAURA J. COLE ’04 ’08MLS
Planting the Seeds of Service for First-Year Students
ONE DAY SPARC Day of Service
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Annamarie Carlson ’14 says SPARC truly did spark her passion for community engagement at Rollins College. All it took was one visit to the Mayflower retirement community, where the English major from Ohio spent hours chatting with residents about their life stories. “Having first-year students engage in service projects from the moment we step on campus really sends the message that service is going to be an important part of our life here at Rollins,” Carlson said. “It sets the tone for the rest of the year.” The only program of its kind in the state of Florida, SPARC (Service Philanthropy Activism Rollins College) was created in 2006 to introduce Rollins’ first-year students to the Central Florida community in a day of learning, community service, and activism by partnering students with community agencies across Central Florida. Last August, 826 SPARC participants at 24 local nonprofit agencies contributed more than 3,000 community service hours while igniting their interest and passion for service and activism beyond the college campus. “Because they’re told that Rollins stands for community engagement from day one, they come into college thinking that’s what all
Rollins students do and they assume they’ll do it too,” said Katie Sutherland, associate professor of biology, who removed invasive plant species from a local park with students in her Rollins College Conference course Endangered Earth. “Service is the norm at Rollins.” Director of the Community Engagement Micki Meyer believes that grabbing students’ attention early is crucial to keeping their long-term interest. “They’ve already engaged in a service project before they’ve opened their first textbook. They understand right away that coming to college is so much bigger than just our campus and they have a responsibility to get engaged in the surrounding community.” As for Carlson, she loved the experience so much that she came back to volunteer in her sophomore year, this time as a photographer. “I watched so many first-year students have this service experience and immediately go and pursue other service opportunities in the days and weeks that followed,” Carlson said. “SPARC is the start of your journey into community service and the beginning of the realization that you can really make a difference.” ■
ROLLINS MAGAZINE