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What comes to mind when a student thinks about experiential learning? Internships? Applied projects? Yes, all great ways to get experience, but what if a student鈥檚 campus was a great place to look for those opportunities?

One such student sought out one of one of those very opportunities. Mikaila Bayers, senior听, worked with the Walk a Mile in a Veteran鈥檚 Boot听Fundraiser听in November听鈥斕齛 campaign that raises money for Liberty House through the purchase of paper boots that students may dedicate to veterans听鈥斕齮hrough her work within an independent study and the 听(SLA).

The Boots campaign, hosted by the Student Veteran Advocacy Team, was implemented to continue to extend the campus鈥� urban mission.

鈥淭he Boots campaign became a way to celebrate and recognize our own military students, but also to听make aware community members of homelessness in Manchester," said听Regina McCarthy, assistant dean of student services. "Veteran homelessness in particular, and one specific group that was working to help.鈥�

Originally, Bayers signed up for a community service class that was offered, but that class was then cancelled and left Bayers wondering what to do next.

鈥淚t was a class that I was not only interested in taking, but it also fulfilled a requirement for the [Student] Leadership Academy,鈥澨鼴ayers said.

To fulfill her requirements for SLA and to continue the theme of community service, Bayers sought out an advisor,听, library director and interim executive director for experiential learning, for an independent study and turned to McCarthy to support her through the Student Leadership Academy portion. Both her advisors aided her throughout her experiential learning experience.

McCarthy sees experiential learning as a connection between education and experience with each influencing the other.听She said that what听students gains within that real-world experience will then circle back and 鈥渋nform the next level of learning鈥� within the classroom.

鈥淥n the one hand, students will learn in the classroom听and that classroom knowledge informs a real-world, active, engaged experience,鈥� McCarthy said.

Donahue said the term experiential learning is a 鈥渞ather broad brush,鈥� and there are many different ways experiential learning can occur on campus. There are internships, but there are also study away opportunities, program-specific opportunities听and others within various offices, including the Office of Student Development and Involvement.

鈥淭hat all applies back to their course work and helps make real world applications that can then deepen the learning and strengthen their resume as they move beyond the university,鈥澨鼶onahue said.

Bayers took on an experiential learning project with the Boots campaign. Teaming up with the Student Veteran Advocacy Team, Bayers helped plan, coordinate听and implement听the drive during the month of November.听She looked to change the dynamic of the drive鈥檚 table, taking away some faculty and adding students.

鈥淚 know in the past it was mainly faculty members who sat at the table, but I wanted to get more students involved with it because students asking students or educating other students I think works,鈥澨鼴ayers said.

Along with the campaign, Bayers interviewed several veterans at Liberty House and brought their stories to the table during the drive. Bayers sees the stories she gathered as听human components to her project.

鈥淏eing able to add a human component to anything helps break those walls,鈥澨鼴ayers said. 鈥淚 think that being able to interact with veterans and then give pieces of their stories to the drive helped this year.鈥�

McCarthy reflected on her time working with Bayers and the Boots campaign, and said that her time can be summed up in听鈥渁ha! and serendipitous moments.鈥�

鈥淚t brought back for me how compelling it is for students to construct knowledge based on experiences,听and how much I enjoy working with students," McCarthy said.

Donahue has seen the experience as influencing Bayers in many positive ways, which she added was a rewarding experience for her as Bayers鈥� advisor.

鈥淢eeting with her and reading her reflective responses helped me to see that growth in her and see how the work we did together helped move us towards the final outcome,鈥澨鼶onahue said.

Bayers hopes to embark on more projects in the spring semester and continue to cultivate her passion for service.

"I think that working on this helped me gain more confidence to volunteer more and figure out what causes I want to work with,鈥� Bayers said.