This past spring, UTDServ Voyagers took to the road for the first time, offering a one-week immersive volunteer opportunity for Naveen Jindal School of Management’s undergraduate students to complete 40 of the 100 hours of volunteer work required for their graduation. Beyond knocking out a significant chunk of required hours, students worked with organizations they otherwise wouldn’t have known.

One group of five students spent five days on-site at Camp Grady Spruce in Graford. The iconic YMCA camp west of Weatherford has, for generations, been the highlight of many North Texas kids’ summers. On the shores of Possum Kingdom Lake, the camp is pleasantly rustic and decidedly unplugged. And it needs constant care to keep it a welcoming experience.

Another group of five Jindal School students spent spring break volunteering at children-focused nonprofits in the Dallas area, including Court Appointed Special Advocates — an agency whose volunteers help children with families in the court system — and Heart House — a nonprofit helping refugee, immigrant and under-resourced children in Dallas’ Vickery Meadow neighborhood.

For example, none of the five who spent a week at Camp Grady Spruce had gone to summer camp as children. Watching the unbridled rambunctiousness of middle schoolers at camp over spring break was new to them. While there, Jindal School students built new benches for camp use (learning how to use table saws and power drills), prepared the vegetable garden for planting and spruced up the archery field.

Those on the children’s advocacy week helped prepare activities for after-school events, sorted donations and learned about the ongoing needs of at-risk children. They touched at least three different advocacy groups each of the five days of spring break. Each day they learned about the important but often tedious nature of helping those in desperate need.

“People who are hiring our Jindal School students know that what we would call ‘life experiences’ help prepare students for what happens after graduation,” said Angela Granger, who oversees the undergraduate UTDServ program. “And once you’re a couple years away from college, you often remember those volunteering events more than how your classes went.”

For students, it was definitely a different volunteer experience.

“It was great to have the change of scenery,” said one of the students who volunteered at Camp Grady Spruce. “It made me realize things that I am capable of. Usually, I say I am not a spontaneous person, but this made me realize the opposite. It had a great impact on me and encouraged me to keep looking for opportunities and try new things, even when I don’t know what to expect.”

Students paid $100 each to take part and spots were filled on a first-come, first served basis. In this inaugural year, the wait list was long.

“Having a wait list indicated we had strong student interest,” Owens said. “We’re clearly going to be offering this opportunity again to students.”