While most students were ready to head home right after exams, some gave up a week of their break to volunteer.
But for fourth-year biology student Melissa Mahoney, leading an alternative winter break trip to Carolina Tiger Rescue in North Carolina was only natural. In fact, she even participated in the same trip in the past.
“It was really related to my interest in the biology field,” she said. “Of course I love big cats, and the topic of animal welfare ... is something that I have a lot of interest in.”
Carolina Tiger Rescue is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, and students on the trip built habitats for two tigers. Through this opportunity, Mahoney was able to share her interests in animal welfare with her participants, whose majors ranged from engineering to journalism.
“To see my participants grow over the course of the week, to see them learn more about the social justice issue and to learn more about themselves as volunteers themselves was really fulfilling to me,” Mahoney said.
She thinks that many of them were able to connect to the opportunity, despite their academic majors, in part because they could relate to a tiger that was rescued from a private owner in Richland County.
After laying almost 400 meters of steel fencing, the group of students finished one habitat and almost completed another, and they saw one tiger move from quarantine into the habitat they had created.
“We were actually able to see the results of our volunteer work while we were there and that was really exciting,” Mahoney said.
USC volunteered with Carolina Tiger Rescue for years, but Taylor Tuozzolo led 10 students to a new site, Give Kids the World.
This organization gives terminally ill children and their families from all over the world seven-day packages to all the parks in Orlando, with all expenses paid, with the goal of giving them the vacation of their dreams.
“It just provides a sense of hope for them and it’s just a whole different kind of feeling for them because they’re away from their medical treatment,” Tuozzolo, a fourth-year social work student, said. “It’s not only for the kids, but also for their parents. It’s an opportunity for them to escape from that kind of lifestyle.”
Volunteers did everything from serve breakfast to dress up for a Winter Wonderland parade. They hope to raise and donate enough money to the organization throughout the year to earn a plaque at the resort.
“What we were doing was such a rewarding experience,” Tuozzolo said. “When you’re struggling through some hard things, some people are struggling through even harder things, so just be thankful no matter what.”
USC students worked with kids aged 3 to 13. The most memorable moment for Tuozzolo was having a girl tell her "the magic is in your heart" when she tried to explain that the experience operates on magic.
"It just really stuck with me, and it was really sweet. It was such an inspiration because it was this little 8-year-old saying this," Tuozzolo said. “I feel like you can take that anywhere, coming from poverty, suffering from a terminal illness or struggling with exams.”