Each year, IWU students have the option of spending spring break volunteering for charity.  This year, the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip was to Laredo, Texas, a town near the border of the US and Mexico.  International student Sophia Li (’15) went on the trip and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, which builds homes for those in need.

Sophia and the other students volunteering spend seven days on ASB, including a 24-hour bus ride to Texas and a fun day in San Antonio, Texas.  There were two work sites, and Sophia worked to cut insulation and build a home.  The students used power tools to accomplish this, and Sophia learned how to use a nail gun.  She says that when she has her own home, she will now know how to do home-improvement and renovations with the skills she acquired on ASB.  Sophia also met a boy helping to build the home since his family had also received a home from Habitat for Humanity.  In this way, the recipients become the volunteers, and everyone is connected through the program.

The trip was a combination of work and fun. At night, there were activities for the ASB students to have fun and get to know each other.  One night, a Mexican fiesta was held at a beach house, and the students were able to spend time with the family who would live in the house being built.

Sophia really enjoyed her experience with ASB.  She says it was an enriching experience, especially as an international student, and that she would recommend ASB to everyone!

February 7, 2013 marked the annual Founders’ Day Convocation, held in Westbrook Auditorium in Presser Hall. The convocation is given in honor of the thirty signers of Illinois Wesleyan’s charter in 1850.

Allen C. Guelzo presents at the Founders’ Day Convocation

This year is not only Illinois Wesleyan’s 163rd anniversary, but the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Allen C. Guelzo, the current Henry R. Luce Professor of the Civil War Era at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, spoke at the convocation about the Civil War and the end of slavery in the United States.  Many of the individuals who signed the university’s charter knew President Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, personally.

The IWU campus community celebrated the Lunar New Year together on Sunday, February 10, 2013 at the Hansen Student Center.  The event was sponsored by the International Studies department’s Asian Studies team.  We enjoyed an evening of great food with entertainment by Chicago-based Tsukasa Taiko.

Visit Tsukasa Taiko here.

The Chicago-based Japanese percussion group Tsukasa Taiko performs.

Son Vu Dang ’15 (left) and Zung Do ’15 (right) show items from their home city of Hanoi to Rudy Negrete.

I-Society raised funds for Japan

At the International Carnival this year, I-Society’s charitable effort featured: “Art from the Heart”. Art major, Katya Kobrina ’11 started painting just as dinner began.

A winner was drawn from the purchased raffle tickets as she completed the painting at the end of the performances. The raffle proceeds benefted The American Red Cross Japan Fund.

Below is Katya as she began this heart-felt artistic process.

Grace Kelmer and Phil Lewis practice passing clubs

The Illinois Wesleyan University Juggling Club meets each Sunday at 5pm in the Shirk athletic center, where they teach beginners the basics, practice new skills, and perfect their favorite tricks.

Pictured here are Grace Kelmer ’12, and Phil Lewis ’13,  the President and Vice President of IWU’s Juggling Club respectively. They are  working on passing clubs, which they plan to perform as a part of a routine in March, when the Juggling Club will be performing at the International Society’s annual I-Carnival.

Grace Kelmer and Phil Lewis practice passing clubs

The Bulgarian holiday, Baba Marta, means ‘Grandmother March’, and marks the beginning of the end of the Winter season. Though Spring has not officially arrived, more and more small signs are popping up every day. The martenitsi pictured is an example of bracelets that friends tie on each others’ wrists as they await the first  signs of Spring.

International students Teodora Petrova ’10 and Stefan Stoev ’10, both from Bulgaria, share their story and tradition with the IWU community. Read more on IWU’s news page.