Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest.
By Riley Benson
USF Bulls: Serve and Explore, presented by the USF St. Pete Student Success Belonging Committee, is a “choose your own adventure” style activity to help students feel more connected to the area.
Students can participate in the ongoing event by choosing from two different paths to explore the city — culture and community service.
By attending at least two “adventures” and taking a selfie at the location of each, students can win a USF St. Petersburg-themed tote bag by going to The Source (SLC 1800) between Apr. 1 and 5.
“We have some adventure options, which are on-campus to connect with the campus, and others that are in the community, but we tried to make sure that all of them were free or low cost and that you could walk to all of them,” Erin McFee, committee member and events manager at the USF St. Petersburg University Student Center and Events, said.
If students chose to go the culture route, they could’ve attended the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Mar. 8 through 10, but if they missed it they can go to a local museum or market.
St. Petersburg is home to many local museums like the Dalí, James and Fine Arts, as well as different markets like the Indie Flea, Saturday Morning Market and the Mezzo Market.
On the other hand, if students were to go down the community service route they could donate to the campus food pantry, attend a nature cleanup with Keep Pinellas Beautiful or attend the on-campus Food Forest: Restore and Cleanup event on Mar. 29, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
This, month long project, is a passion project brought together by USF St. Petersburg staff members that are passionate about improving student’s on-campus experiences.
“Why we started doing [Serve and Explore] was that we heard last year that students didn’t feel as connected to the St. Pete campus, specifically, and the St. Pete community,” explains McFee. “So we were like ‘Okay! Let’s create a program were you can explore both.’”
McFee herself, has been participating in the adventure.
She works for the University Student Center and Events, whose Instagram page has been promoting the project. On there, you can find photos of her and other staff members attending events like the Firestone Grand Prix.
The project officially ends Mar. 31, so students still have time to go out and explore the campus and community, and get a prize in the process.
