By Ritvik Agnihotri

Everyone’s freshman orientation experience serves a crucial role in shaping their outlook on Princeton. As a Community Action Fellow, I am responsible for organizing the Community Action Orientation experience at the Poconos Environmental Education Center (PEEC) for this year. This includes curating the service projects the first-years will spend their time on, communicating with partners about lodging, dining, and activities, and handling the many logistical aspects that are involved with the trip.

There are 7 Community Action Fellows (3 of whom are in Service Focus) and we all work in the Pace Center in Frist (or the women’s center because the couches in Pace are uncomfortable!). We occasionally have field trip days as well; as a collective, we have visited the Grounds for Sculpture and took a wonderful tour of Princeton’s Campus where we learned more about the African American history behind the foundations of our University. We have also taken a two-day retreat in the Princeton-Blairstown Center which was a fruitful experience filled with team-bonding activities and lessons on humility and leadership.

Sara Gruppo and Maggie Hussar are in charge of the Community Action Fellows. They have taught all of us much about leadership, cultural humility, and organization. They are wonderful role models and I am grateful to be able to work under their supervision.

So far, I am loving my Fellowship here. I have gained experience which I am sure I could not have obtained anywhere else, and have also learned about our campus. I can’t wait for the actual Community Action trip!

All of the CA Fellows with Sara and Maggie on our Retreat

An attempt to grab an object without being near it as a team-building exercise on the retreat