THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508200084
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Kate Wagner mixed a lump of mortar before laying it on a row of bricks. Although she disliked the monotony, she perked up at the idea that her work would help someone else.
The lanky 18-year-old sacrificed her final summer days to help build a house for a poor family in the city's Park Place neighborhood.
The Habitat for Humanity project is part of a new pre-orientation service program offered to first-year Virginia Wesleyan University students.
``I thought it was a really good cause,'' said Wagner, a Chesapeake native, who only learned how to lay bricks last Thursday.
She spent Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. working on a house at the corner of 30th and Granby with an all-female volunteer construction crew.
Recognizable by their green hard hats, they hammered, measured, mixed, poured and carried materials to the ``House that Jill Built,'' named in honor of the all-women's group. Most of the crew spent Saturday setting the joist, the beams that hold up the planks of the second floor.
Twenty-five freshmen arrived in Norfolk a week early to help the local and college chapters of Habitat for Humanity build houses in Hampton and Norfolk. This is the first year that Virginia Wesleyan has offered the program to incoming freshmen.
First-year students also had the option of river rafting in North Carolina in an Outward Bound-type of adventure. Fifteen participated in the rafting trip.
Altogether, 40 students of the approximately 260-member incoming freshman class took part in the pre-orientation activities, said Mary Bruner, a spokeswoman for Virginia Wesleyan.
``The whole concept is to give them an experience before the frantic pace of orientation starts next week,'' said Rev. Scott Davis, chaplain at the university.
Older students involved in Habitat approved of involving freshmen early in campus life.
``I think it's a good idea,'' said Alissa Ferguson, a sophomore working on the House that Jill Built. ``It gets them involved right away and helps them meet people in a smaller environment.''
Freshmen primarily tend to meet people in their orientation meetings and dorms, so this widens the group of new faces they get to know, she said.
Davis, who has been involved with Habitat for seven years, marveled at the dedication shown by the students, particularly the freshmen.
``It's amazing to see our students come from different parts of the country and become part of a team,'' he said.
Elisha Hassler, 19, a freshman from Wilmington, Del., gushed about the experience.
``It gives you self-confidence,'' Hessler said. ``Once you're taught what to do and you do it right and continue to do it right, it's like you've got self-confidence, which is important, especially for freshmen who are always insecure about who they are and what they do.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Elisha Hassler, 19, puts hammer to nail with Judy Kaplan, a longtime
volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, on a site in Park Place
Saturday. Hassler is part of a group of freshman at Virginia
Wesleyan who have donated their time to help with the service
project.
by CNB