New-student service program is back after two-year hiatus

Three years ago, Abra Geiger '26 arrived at Cornell as a participant in Pre-Orientation Service Trips(POST), a program that offers incoming students four days of service, reflection and community-building.

She loved the program and hoped to return as a student leader, but the program went on hiatus the following year. So she began reaching out to staff and former participants to rally support for a revival.

"She kept nudging me in my inbox - 'Can we? Can we? Can we?'" said Renée Farkas, the director of student programs at the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, which runs POST. "Student leaders are an essential part of this program, so the energy that Abra brought to her pitch gave us confidence that there'd be enough interest and energy from current students that we'd be able to re-launch."

Geiger, a physics and math major in the College of Arts and Sciences, got her wish: POST returned this year with 40 first-year and transfer students together with six senior team leaders and two sophomores. Founded in 1996, POST aims to help ease the transition for new Cornellians by introducing them to peers in small groups while continuing the university's mission of public engagement through intensive local service projects.

At Ithaca's Stewart Park, the students spent the day painting benches, picking up trash and learning about the city's silent film history - represented by the former Wharton Bros. Studio building in the park - and Friends of Stewart Park's recent efforts developing the waterfront trail and adaptive playground.

"Without helping hands from community members, things fall apart quickly," said Tim Wells, Friends of Stewart Park director of finance and administrator. "And Cornell is part of the Ithaca community as much as anyone who grew up here."

At Finger Lakes ReUse, student teams cleaned and organized donated materials. Through Prisoner Express, students wrote letters to incarcerated individuals - an activity that resonated deeply with one participant in recovery. POST groups also joined existing community events, including an Ithaca Muralspainting day and a tree-planting effort with Trees Up Tompkins.

"This year we strove to work alongside community members and create a sense of connection," said Maja Anderson, project manager for student programs at the Einhorn Center.

The POST staff hope this year will be more than a one-time experience. By embedding community-engaged learning (CEL) principles and practices- including critical reflection and responsiveness to partners - their hope is for student participants to continue their involvement with the Einhorn Center and other Cornell CEL experiences during their entire time as undergrads. Team leaders prepared for this deep engagement in the spring through an eCornell community-engaged learning courseand a workshop on reflection, led by Amy Somchanhmavong, the Einhorn Center's associate director for global community-engaged learning programs.

After each day of service, students discussed what they had learned, what surprised them and how they were growing from the experience. "The training helped us focus on reflection in ways we wouldn't have otherwise," said team leader Sarah Young '26, an applied economics and management major in the SC Johnson College of Business.

Somchanhmavong also guided all participants through a workshop on different ways citizens can engage in their communities.

"This piece is more about making the bridge to their academic study and helping them realize that the academic also has so much influence on the way they participate in the community," she said.

By the end of POST, students had gained a stronger understanding of community-engaged learning, and a deeper connection to the Ithaca community - and to one another. Students used a local middle school as their home base for the duration of the program.

"It's really fun, and you get very close," said Kenneth Chen '29, College of Arts and Sciences. "It's uncomfortable in a good way - it pushes you to talk to people even when you're tired."

For staff, seeing the students embrace POST so fully was a highlight.

"It makes me really proud that these students are willing to take a chance to come here early," Farkas said. "Most of them arrive pretty anxious - and the transformation is fantastic to watch over just a few days."

Olivia Hall is a freelance writer for the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.