A Wayne State College alumnus visited campus last Wednesday, to talk about his annual service-learning study abroad trip to Ecuador set to take place in 2018 from June 7 to June 21.

Dean Jacobs, a 1986 WSC graduate, is a professional tour guide who has travelled across the globe exploring more than 50 countries. Starting as a typical kid from Wahoo, Nebraska, Jacobs encouraged students to think about what could be possible for them.

“If you make up your mind that one way or another you are going to go on this journey, the opportunities will present themselves,” Jacobs said. “If you put a stake in the ground and say, ‘I don’t know how the heck I’m going to do this, but I’m going to figure this out,’ then things will start to fall into place for you.”

Alongside Jacobs and the students on the trip will be biologist and tour guide Cristina Serrano and a full-time WSC faculty member.

The class for the service-learning study abroad trip will begin mid-May and will acquaint students with cultural background knowledge through readings and discussions.

Upon return from their two weeks spent in Ecuador, students are required to complete the class with a final paper. Along with the service-learning
component, the class will equate to six credit hours in general education for the participating student.

“I am very involved in this trip because it’s a service-learning study abroad trip, but also because I am a longtime admirer and friend of Deans,” said Lisa Nelson, WSC director of service-learning. “I was actually at the very first presentation he gave a long time ago.”

Jacobs stressed that while he can spend hours telling students about the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador, there will never be a substitute for seeing and sharing the first-hand experience with the indigenous
people.

“It’s one thing to climb inside the pyramids or to climb the Eiffel tower, but for me, the most precious thing that has really touched my heart is when I sit down and have a cup of tea with someone from a different world, and I listen to their hopes and dreams and what matters to them in the world,” Jacobs said. “In that moment, I connect to their humanity, and when I connect to their humanity, that expands my humanity.”

Although Jacobs says the trip will be fun and eye-opening for the students, he does have a few rules: he is not a babysitter, students are not to whine or complain, and each student is to come on the trip with the attitude to give, not to get.

As part of the service-learning aspect of the trip, each student will use his or her individual skill sets to help and connect with the
indigenous people.

For example, Nelson said students might develop a beginning English language plan and activity, or a math skills activity for grade school children. The students will work to meet the objectives of the indigenous people and they will also leave behind some useful materials for the students and local people.

“Hearing Dean Jacobs’ talk really inspired me,” WSC sophomore Karlee Pinney said. “He made me really want to go to Ecuador and be a part of what he called a ‘life-changing experience.’”

Jacobs will be back to campus on Oct. 10 for the next meeting of the service-learning study abroad trip. For more information on how to sign up for the trip, contact Nelson, whose office is Connell Hall room 238.