We sat down with Alternative Spring Break Co-President, Dhwani Patel! Read on to find out about her position as well as the program!
Year: Senior
Major: Biology, minors in Chemistry and English
Hometown: Shaumburg, IL
Dream Career: Pharmacist
Position for Alternative Spring Break (ASB) UIC: Co-President
HC: What is ASB and why did you decide to join the organization?
Dhwani: I joined my sophomore year and I thought it would be a great way to volunteer and make friends. ASB is a volunteer organization that fundraises all year long to send our members out to volunteer trips. We fundraise a lot to make sure that the one-week trips are only $150 for our members. It covers the cost of living, driving, and staying there for one week.
HC: What is your favorite volunteer trip that you have taken with ASB?
Dhwani: My favorite trip was going to North Carolina and working with the Tiger Rescue. We cut down trees and shrubs to clear space out for the tigers there. There were so many different kinds of felines like bobcats, and leopards. There was an albino Tiger named Jellybean and he was my favorite.
HC: What are some upcoming trips ASB members will be going on for Winter Break?
Dhwani: We have seven planned trips for Winter Break. There is one in New Jersey for the Pediatric Angel Network. There is also one in Florida, and we’re going to be working with the Developmental Center to help children with disabilities. ASB is also going to be working with the Magnolia Springs Park in Georgia keep it clean. It was a World War II camp ground, so it’s marked as a historical landmark. We are also planning a trip to Louisiana to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, where we re-build houses after Hurricane Katrina destroyed everything. It’s a very popular trip among our members because everyone wants to go there. For our Tennessee trip, we are going to the Hope House to help children who have contracted HIV through their parents. It’s sort of like a daycare center where their parents drop them off but some of the kids live there. But they are a non-profit, so we help donate money to them and help in any way we can.
HC: How it is decided on which members get to go on different trips?
Dhwani: There are usually about 10 – 12 people that go on each trip. The members send in their applications and we interview them to figure out who would be the best fit for each trip. The members choose their top three trips and we decide which trips are suitable for them.
HC: What are some of your responsibilities as Co-President of ASB? How did you become Co-President of the organization?
Dhwani: Well, last semester I was a part of the fundraising committee because ASB is all about fundraising money so we can send UIC students on really cheap trips compared to other ASB organizations at other universities that can cost up to $500 per person. The fundraising committee is a huge deal for ASB so I decided to join it and we did so well last year. I was originally only going to be promoted to a coordinator, but due to some circumstances with our assigned co-president, I ended up taking her spot.We put together all of the trips essentially, we reach out to places like Habitat for Humanity where our students can volunteer and stay at for a week. We find churches for students to stay at and we get the vans together. We also set up the interviews, applications, and presentations for the organization.
HC: How did it feel to be apart of the organization that won Organization of the Year?
Dhwani: It’s a great organization, and it was very satisfying because we do work very hard. We fundraise nonstop to pay for our trips, and on average with all of our trips combined with all of the vans and our food, I would say it costs about $10,000. This year we are aiming for the Diversity Award. We’re very well put together, and we’re just a big, happy family. We love each other and have a great board.
HC: Do you believe that volunteering with ASB will help you become a better Pharmacist?
Dhwani: Actually, yeah. I think that volunteering within all these different fields actually helped me get a grasp on what I want to do in the future. I knew I wanted to be a Pharmacist when I was a sophomore in high school, I believe. I think it’s just so interesting how drugs work in the body and figuring out what reacts and when.
HC: Since this is your last year at UIC, was there an event or a person that really inspired you?
Dhwani: This going to sound so cheesy: but my boyfriend had a big part of helping me keep my cool and my chill throughout my undergrad. He’s also a Biology major, so we take a lot of our classes together. He is doing Pharmacy as well, so we help each other out and it makes everything so much easier. We met each other as neighbors our Freshman year at UIC. He is actually the other Co-President of ASB. When I was a part of the fundrasing comittee, he was a coordinator and we both ended up being Co-Presidents of the organization.
HC: How are you managing staying involved on campus while having a tough major and two minors? Do you have any tips for our readers?
Dhwani: Well, I would say that staying organized really helped me. During my Junior and Senior year, I became a lot more organized and I know what I’m doing. I literally schedule out my entire day to schedule everything or else I would get nothing done. Scheduling and organizing are the two things that helped me the most.