Taylor Wood, a senior from Seal Beach, California, is one of the program directors this year for Alabama Action and helps coordinate some of the activities.
“The freshmen are divided up between two different elementary schools in the area,” Wood said. “They get a chance to have ‘buddy time’ with the children [while] students play interactive games designed to teach [the children] valuable lessons about working together.”
Wood started out as a freshman participant herself and now four years later has become one of the program directors.
“I love the program because it not only has such a positive impact on local schools, but it also provides a great way for incoming freshmen to make friends and feel at home here,” she said.
Wood said she and her fellow leaders enjoyed taking their group out to local restaurants and playing games on the Quad while giving them a chance to be aware of their community.
“Whether the freshmen are out-of-state or in-state, it gives them an opportunity to become truly engaged in the Tuscaloosa community before classes even start,” ?she said.
Davis Bragg, a freshman participant from Vestavia Hills, Alabama, found this experience to be one of the ?most rewarding.
“In the short term, it makes you feel good for doing work for them, but that’s not what its all about,” Bragg said.
After interacting with his own leader, Bragg’s goal is to become a leader himself once he gains more experience in the program. He hopes to do the same kind of activities and change lives in the process and said he felt he took away some ?important lessons from his leaders.
“The way they lead with passion for everything they’re doing really impacted me,” he said. “They did such an incredible job and were a big help.”
Through working with Alabama Action, Bragg said he felt more at home than most. After building relationships and getting plugged in to campus, he said he views Alabama Action as another alternative ?to recruitment.
“Alabama Action did an incredible job of including everyone and helping us to build relationships that will last my four years here at Alabama,” he said.
