The Beaucoup section participated in the annual Big Event and have written down their experiences below.
Kayla Crane
Allons Writer
Since this was my first time at The Big Event I did not know what to expect. I am happy to say that I enjoyed my experience. It was nice that food was provided in the morning before we started picking up trash and the opening ceremony gave me energy before we started, so I was ready to go.
Our section to clean was manageable and not too big to thoroughly search for trash. It felt good to be able to lend a helping hand to the community in a simple and easily accessible way.
There aren’t many campuses that give students an easy way to give back and learn more about Lafayette. I was able to go into neighborhoods that I had never seen or heard of.
The Big Event allows its volunteers to see how little it takes to help out the community. Overall the experience has motivated me to be more involved in community service. The experience was so positive that it has me excited to participate in the years to come.
Ellie Moore
News Writer
I really enjoyed volunteering for UL Lafayette’s The Big Event and plan to continue to volunteer. It was really nice to see so many students participating in the event and doing different forms of community service.
The Big Event is a great way for students to give back to the Lafayette community.
While picking up trash along the streets, I realized how many items don’t get properly disposed of, either trash or recyclable items. It feels good to clean up our city and help the environment simultaneously. It felt especially nice when an old lady thanked us for picking up trash on the street in front of her house. I had a great experience and hope to have many more.
Landon Fruge
Allons Writer
I greatly enjoyed my first ever experience at The Big Event! On my journey with my group to pick up the trash on our block we came across a baby snake which, even though I’m terrified of snakes, I thought was pretty cute.
Later we came across a cat. The cat came up to us and let us pet it. The cat seemed to really enjoy our company. I absolutely love cats so that was a big win in my book. We came across several other cats but they wouldn’t come near us like the first one did.
Other than the animals we encountered along the way, I enjoyed The Big Event as it felt nice just to give back to the community. This was especially apparent to me when I was picking up trash and an old lady came out and thanked me and my co-worker for what we were doing. It was nice to see how much people appreciated the work we were doing by cleaning up the trash on our assigned block.
Ellie Schmidt
Designer
I truly enjoyed participating in the Big Event for the first time. It was so heartwarming to see all of the students participating and seeing all of the effort that goes into planning it. I definitely want to come back and do it next year. It was such a great opportunity to go out into our community and give back even though we were just picking up trash.
It was very eye-opening to see all of the trash left outside, and how much it affects our environment. We found a snake living inside cardboard and even found a very sweet cat that came up to us. This event gave me an opportunity to feel connected to the area surrounding where we live.
Overall this entire experience left a lasting impression on me, making me want to help my community more and take better care of our environment.