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LOOKING BACK: REWARDING SEMESTER FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
 

Classes have ended for the academic year, and as students leave campus, they take many memories with them. For 26 students from Iowa State University’s College of Engineering, the most vivid memory will be their 2006 spring break trip—a trip from which they returned tired, but satisfied.

Instead of basking in the warm sun on Gulf Coast beaches, they were hanging sheetrock, roofing homes, framing houses, and removing debris left over from Hurricane Katrina in southern Mississippi. The students, most of whom are majoring in construction engineering and are members of Iowa State’s Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America chapter, traveled there to help families devastated by the hurricane.

“We wanted to lend a helping hand to those in need,” says Nels Overgaard, a senior from Newell, Iowa, and president of Iowa State’s AGC chapter. “I think we made a difference.”

The Iowa State team lived with more than 700 other students from campuses across the country at the Morrell Foundation’s I-Care Village in Waveland, Mississippi, for a week. The Hurricane Relief Corps, a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping the devastated area, coordinated their work. Each student paid $30 a day for room and board.

Sam Hoffman, a junior from Farmington, Minnesota, says the camp was a lot like what you see in M*A*S*H reruns. “We lived in a green canvas tent,” he explains, “four people to a tent.”

And while it wasn’t a four-star hotel, Gina Riesberg, a senior from Carroll, Iowa, says it was comfortable. “It could have been a lot worse,” she adds.

Because the Iowa State students had construction engineering skills, they got to help with actual rebuilding efforts. Most of the other volunteers spent their time picking up debris, demolishing damaged structures, and gutting houses. “Iowa State students did what they do best,” Overgaard says. “We built things.”

Relief Effort Team The Iowa State students listed below participated in the relief effort in Waveland, Mississippi. Hometowns are listed in parentheses. Anthony Alleman (Toluca, IL) Clark Bowden (West Des Moines, IA) James Bowers (Des Moines, IA) Scott Cornelius (Zearing, IA) Ryan Ferris (Meriden, IA) Dan Frohardt (Sac City, IA) Brandon Gries (La Vista, NE) Nathan Hamm (Bettendorf, IA) Sam Hoffman (Farmington, MN) Eric Lindquist (St. Charles, IL) Grant Lovin (Nevada, IA) Lee Marbach (Ryan, IA) Tyler Mark (Indianola, IA) Cory McDermott (Dubuque, IA) Kyle Mueller (Epworth, IA) Nels Overgaard (Newell, IA) Kelsey Peverill (Glenwood, IA) Garett Plotts (Austin, MN) Rachel Potthoff (Bettendorf, IA) Julie Radziwon (Batavia, IL) Gina Riesberg (Carroll, IA) Andrew Rotta (Merrill, IA) Jon Shepherd (Indianola, IA) Justin VanCoughnett (Adams Center, NY) Matt Weller (Omaha, NE) Jesse Werner (La Porte City, IA)

Because of their construction skills, the Iowa State team was asked to show up a day early to help set up camp. They spent the first day building temporary showers and putting up tents to house themselves and the other students. Once the others arrived, it was an entire week of grueling, physical labor for everyone. And the workday was long—students got up around 6 a.m. and, after breakfast, went straight to town. They didn’t quit working until the sun went down after 6 p.m.

“It was hard work,” admits Rachel Potthoff, a sophomore from Bettendorf, Iowa, “but it was definitely worth it. When you talk to the homeowners there, you realize how much it meant to them to get your help. It means they can move out of their FEMA trailers and get back into their homes a little bit faster.”

Potthoff, who had limited construction experience before the trip, learned how to drywall, then spent a couple days on the roofing crew.

For Riesberg, who also had limited hands-on experience, the greatest lesson was learning how a construction team works together. “I filled in wherever I was needed,” she says.

And that was the type of attitude that all the students there seemed to have—help wherever you could doing whatever you were asked. But seeing the devastation first-hand probably sparked that attitude. “The first time we drove through town, everyone in the van was completely quiet,” Hoffman says. “We were all in awe of what we were seeing.”

Kyle Mueller, a senior from Epworth, Iowa, and a late addition to the team, was glad he made the trip. His assignment was evaluating jobs to determine which were a good fit for the Iowa State crew. His friends ribbed him about spending his days riding around in a van, although they knew there was more to his job than that.

“Project management is actually a lot of work,” Mueller notes. “It’s talking to people about jobs that need to get done, lining up materials, lining up money, and lining up crews. It was a big responsibility and an experience I wouldn’t trade.”

And while it’s true that the students provided an important service to many needy families, they all agreed that they got something out of the trip, too.

“It was definitely a win-win situation,” Riesberg says. “I don’t know how you could get a better spring break than this. We got to help good people, and we had fun in the process.”

“We talk about building stuff in class all the time,” Hoffman points out, “but we actually got to do it ourselves down there. We got dirty, but we liked it.”