Students spend spring break at Pathfinder Village

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March 17, 2011

By Tom Grace Cooperstown News Bureau The Daily Star Thu Mar 17, 2011, 08:27 AM EDT

EDMESTON _ Sophomore Griffin O'Shea is a big man on campus _ the Pathfinder Village campus in Edmeston, that is.

An international relations and geography major at Colgate University in Hamilton, O'Shea spent his spring break last year at Pathfinder as part of his college's COVE program.

COVE, the Center for Outreach, Volunteerism & Education, offers students a chance to volunteer during their vacations. They've been to Louisiana to help people recover from Hurricane Katrina and to Kentucky and North Carolina to help build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

In the spring of 2010, O'Shea came to Pathfinder Village, a home for those with Down syndrome, and made friends with several residents.

"I told them I'd be back, but a year is a long time, and I was afraid they might forget me," he said Wednesday.

They didn't.

"It's like I left just yesterday," he said. "I was friends with Lee (Oliver) and he remembered me right away. When I saw Nicholas (Campbell), he remembered a basketball move I showed him last year."

As O'Shea, who lives in Babylon, gave this interview, students at Pathfinder's school waved and said hello as they passed the open door.

"I love the atmosphere here, so welcoming it's impossible not to get roped in," he said.

O'Shea is one of five Colgate students spending their spring breaks in Edmeston.

Vincci Cheng, a sophomore who lives in Hong Kong, said her week has been instructive.

"The students are much more independent than I expected, and I like that," she said. "Some are very sensitive, and yesterday a girl had an outburst, but when something like that happens, people here are relaxed and know how to deal with it."

The Colgate contingent, which includes Kelsey Curtis, Christie Dachille and Jinri Kim, is led by project coordinator Colleen Nassimos.

"I have a niece with Down syndrome, so this week has been very interesting from that perspective," she said. "It's been personal to me and I'm going to stay in touch with people here." Each evening, she and the Colgate students meet to share their experiences, which range from cleaning the basement and straightening records to karaoke sessions and dinner with the residents, she said."It's fun, but I think it's really important to see how an organization like this operates _ to be part of it for a week."

Bonnie Laugen, interim director of the village's Kennedy-Willis Center, said the college students are a big hit with residents and staff."Colgate has a wonderful program; the students are great."

The college students were oriented before their week in Edmeston, and in return, at the end of their visit, some of Pathfinder's students will travel to Hamilton for a taste of college life, she said.