Newman University seniors Megan Hemel and McKenna Seiler will travel to Jamaica in February to assist Newman alumnus Dr. Robert Martin during a medical service trip.
Hemel and Seiler will assist at Martin’s clinic in various ways, including assisting in taking patients’ vitals. Hemel said Martin takes trips similar to this throughout the year with other professionals. The medical personnel set up a clinic and help as many people as they can in the allotted time.
Seiler, an ASC scholar and biology major (Pre-Physicians Assistant), said that her scholarship and service experience helped her make the decision to go on the trip.
“I’ve gained so much experience through being an ASC scholar, this is just the next step,” she said. “I don’t think it was something I would do had I not had all that volunteer experience before.”
Hemel, a biology major (Pre-Med), who has participated in a fair amount of service trips and projects throughout her time at Newman University including the Guatemala service trip last summer, said the trip feels like one more step in the right direction for her.
“Ever since that first time [I went on a service trip], I fell in love with it,” she said. “There’s a fair amount of self-discovery that occurs with a trip like this. We come from such a blessed university. We’re able to be in communities that are underdeveloped and need the help that we can provide. It’s an amazing experience and it really shows how much these trips, and Newman in general, is transforming us to really get out there and help those people.”
