By Noah Johnson
Your education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a time for firsts.
It’s where you find lifelong friends and discover your future. Sometimes, those discoveries happen in the classroom. At a university that is home to more than 20,000 students, however, it can be difficult to find your place.
That’s where recognized student organizations (RSOs) can make a life-changing difference. With nearly 500 active student-led organizations — ranging from groups that pursue hobbies, such as the UNL Aerospace Club, to exciting sports clubs like Pickleball Club UNL — there are countless opportunities to help students feel at home at UNL.
“RSOs make a big place like UNL a little smaller because you find something that allows you to engage and connect with the community,” said Veronica Riepe, director of the Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement office at UNL.
Riepe said RSOs offered on campus provide students with a multitude of options to pursue interests that are important to them. Engineering majors may find a home to pursue academic interests in an engineering RSO like the UNL chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB-NU). Other students may find their purpose by getting involved in organizations like Camp Kesem UNL or Students Together Against Cancer.
“When you’re in the classroom, you’re learning so much, and then you get the opportunity to come into an RSO and really apply what you’ve learned,” Riepe said. “It also allows you to experiment and find things that might be of interest to you that you might not have explored before.”
These organizations also provide students with the outlet to make a difference and learn how to become leaders within the UNL community and beyond.
Building Bridges
For Thomas Haar, a junior chemical engineering student from Rapid City, South Dakota, getting involved in RSOs has energized his college experience.
Haar is president of the UNL chapter of EWB-NU. The local chapter, which serves as a smaller chapter within Engineers Without Borders USA, is working to make a worldwide impact through two major projects: the Zambia Bridge Project and the Madagascar Solar Project.
The two projects aim to connect communities in Zambia via a pedestrian suspension bridge and install small solar power systems at schools in Madagascar to provide power for lights and computers, respectively.
Haar traveled to Madagascar following his freshman year to see the firsthand impact of his organization’s work. He said the trip showcased the importance of the work he was doing.
On campus, Haar said the RSO — made up of 30 to 40 students primarily from the College of Engineering — is always an exciting place to be. He added that each weekly meeting provides members with the opportunity to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to solve real-world problems.
“I think our members really enjoy doing something that they know will actually be implemented,” he said. “When I come to meetings, people are really interested in doing things like wiring diagrams or bridge calculations about stress because they know it will make a difference.”
Collective Impact
For organizations like EWB-NU, generous gifts and support are critical to advancing its mission.
Haar said the organization’s major projects are projected to cost a combined $350,000 to complete. Through gifts from donors, EWB-NU can continue advancing these projects, covering the cost for materials and travel for its members and professional advisers.
“We do a lot of work during the school year, but ultimately the speed is also kind of affected by how fast we’re able to raise money to get these supplies to build a bridge and put in solar panel systems,” he said.
Haar added that these gifts have a tangible impact on communities thousands of miles away. They could help spark learning for students in Madagascar through a solar-powered classroom or ultimately connect communities to critical resources in Zambia through a pedestrian bridge.
Riepe said RSOs across UNL are making an impact in countless ways, all while providing its members with lifelong memories.
“Someone’s affiliation with their university isn’t always tied to their major,” she said. “Sometimes the best memories, if you look on your phone at pictures from college, aren’t coming from sitting in the classroom.”
By supporting these organizations, Riepe said donors can keep enabling students to keep doing great things.
“Every little bit helps, and the students, in my humble opinion, are great stewards of the dollars that are donated.”
Support Engineers Without Borders-USA University of Nebraska Student Chapter Fund
This fund shall be used for the benefit and support of a partnership between the University of Nebraska and the villages in Madagascar through the Engineering Without Borders-USA University of Nebraska Student Chapter, College of Engineering.
"[Your gift] has a human impact. It's really cool to see that there's power within one individual to be able to increase the quality of life or the quality of life of a student's education. You are ultimately making a change with your donation."
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