Last day to sign up for the Southern Cities Swing Tour
Students on the Southern Cities Swing Tour will have the opportunity to network and explore on trips to various cities in the southeast. (flyer courtesy of Elizabeth Huggins)
By Rakiyah Lenon | Editor in chief
Augusta University’s department of First and Second Year Experiences has partnered with Career Services, Student Life and Engagement, and AU Alumni to create the first ever Southern Cities Swing Tour.
The cities, tour dates and times are as follows:
Savannah: Friday, Feb. 24, 2023
Greenville, S.C.: Friday, March 3, 2023
Charlotte, N.C: Friday, March 17, 2023
Students will leave the Summerville Campus front entrance on a bus at 7 a.m. and return to AU around 7 p.m. at the same location later that day.
The trips are being offered to sophomores, juniors and seniors. The tours are part of the office’s initiative to involve students with visualizing themselves living and working in other cities around the southeast after college. Students will have the opportunity to network with professionals and alumni who live in these cities.
Students who attend will be provided with free personal business cards, breakfast and lunch for the day, transportation to and from the city and training experiences with professionals in the area. They will also be able to familiarize themselves with the city as they explore the town in their own time.
Those who plan to go on the trip must pay a $50 cash deposit to reserve their spot, but once they have completed the trip, the deposit will be refunded at no cost to them. Feb. 14 is the last day to register. FYE/SYE office is willing to provide a letter asking if a student can be excused if they have classes on the Friday they would like to travel.
Elizabeth Huggins, director of First and Second Year Experiences, said that the cities of Savannah, Greeneville and Charlotte are great considerations for students wanting to live a couple hours away from Augusta. With an emphasis on some students’ desires to live in young, thriving cities, Huggins said these towns are top considerations for many students.
“You want to live in a community where you get to meet people,” she said. “That’s how you get to know people. The more that we can connect AU graduates with AU students who want to go there, the better that situation will be for them in terms of just sense of belonging in a new city.”
Huggins said that even if students have visited these cities before or not, going on the trip is a great way to look at things from another viewpoint and think about future experiences there.
“We’re also planting seeds,” she said. “Just going to the city for one day doesn’t mean you’re committed to that city, but going and getting the feel of a city may interest you in taking a road trip the next few months in your own car or with some friends until you feel comfortable with that next step,” she said.
Though this is the first program of its kind for the office, Huggins said this is an experience she would like to bring to students in the years to come with the help of funding.
“Once we have those connections, it will be so much easier next year,” she said. “We need to start these conversations earlier and making sure that our students are very prepared for going out into the workforce.”
Huggins emphasized that the trip is student-driven, mentioning that her leadership class worked with her to brainstorm and plan the trips.
“We want to definitely honor what it is that they need, and we want to make sure that we try to meet those needs,” said Huggins.
The link to register can be found here : https://augusta.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_23KSNZSDz8ng006 .
Students are encouraged to email fye@augusta.edu for more information or additional questions.
Contact Rakiyah Lenon at rlenon@augsuta.edu.
