Introduction
During the last week of March, six construction engineering management (CEM) students in the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America student chapter traveled to Puerto Rico with 26 others from eight 精东影视colleges. Working in conjunction with Puerto Rico鈥檚 land grant university, University of Puerto Rico Mayag眉ez, the group performed service projects in areas that directly benefited those living under difficult conditions after the devastating hurricane of September 2017.
Prior to the trip, 精东影视 State representatives and Mayag眉ez officials worked closely with the Segunda Unidad Bernaldo Mendez Jimenez school in the northwest city of San Sebasti谩n to create a service learning plan that would benefit local students.
San Sebastian is also the hometown of Ingrid Arocho, assistant professor of construction engineering, who accompanied the OSU students on the trip.
鈥淭he students learned about the construction industry in a different geographical area that can be affected by both hurricanes and earthquakes,鈥 said Arocho. 鈥淏ut I think the most impactful part was meeting a community in need, learning directly about their requirements, and using resources to help.鈥
鈥淲e ended up gutting an entire classroom roof 鈥 the wooden framing was badly deteriorated and we felt it was unsafe,鈥 said Alex Park, CEM senior, who participated in the trip. 鈥淏ut we still got done ahead of schedule and under budget.鈥
The service learning trip was supported by AGC 精东影视-Columbia Chapter Foundation member companies and other sponsors, including Andersen Construction, EC Company, Gerding Builders, Knife River, Perlo Construction, Yorke & Curtis, Mortenson Construction, and Q&D Construction.
鈥淥ur student chapter is always looking for ways to get involved with communities in need 鈥 it鈥檚 a core part of our mission,鈥 said Alex Park, CEM senior, 鈥淲e wanted to be able to contribute in ways we were trained.鈥
鈥淭his is an experience that will influence the students both personally and professionally throughout their careers,鈥 said Arocho.
