Iowa Wesleyan students awarded cords for volunteerism

Iowa Wesleyan University recently implemented a Silver and Purple Service Learning Cord program for exchange students to the university.

For the fall semester, two exchange students, Jaehun Kim and Keneth Oseguera, met the requirement and were presented with their cord and certificate on Dec. 9 at the Center for International Education at IWU.

Kim said that he has been interested in serving and helping people since he was young.

“I received a lot of help from the people around me, and I have a desire to return it to society,” he said. “I was in the United States for a while, and my desire to be a part of society has made me participate in volunteer work.”

Kim is majoring in social work, but he studied psychology and sports management at IWU.

“Psychology is deeply related to social work, and as my minor is business administration, I wanted to learn management related studies,” said Kim.

When asked what his plans are when he returns to Korea, Kim said, “I have to prepare for getting a job because I am about to graduate, and I want to use my skills to lead society in a positive direction.”

“I was able to enjoy American culture and focused on studying in Mt. Pleasant. It is a friendly culture in Mt. Pleasant,” said Kim. “It is a place with a huge amount of land, and it is a very friendly area. I thought, at first, that people would discriminate and treat me differently from others because there are not many Asians, but that was not the case. Mt. Pleasant was a place that always made me laugh. Everyone had a warm heart, so I had a good impression of Mt. Pleasant and Iowa. In particular, the stationmaster and his cat, Shadow, at the train station always made me smile and warm my heart.”

In the program, students are required to complete and document 25 hours of service learning or volunteer hours during a semester. The hours have to take place outside of the classroom and cannot be part of a course requirement.