GU Rotaract - T. Zangaglia, N. Verboort, J. Leach

 

 

 

 

 

 

             Welcome:  Joining the March 1 Zoom club meeting were Tracy McClain and Kevin Hagan.  Tracy, of Rathdrum, who recently moved from California, is the Philanthropy and Fundraising Officer for Christ Kitchen non-profit organization in Spokane.  Kevin is the newest lawyer at the Cooney firm, working with club President Steve Bergman.

 

            Happy Buck$$: Chuck Rehberg, $4 for his 75^th birthday – his “4^th quarter” start.  Dave Hayward, $1 for a second Covid shot with no ill effects.  Bill Simer, $1 for GU success in men’s and women’s basketball.

 

           

            The Covid19 pandemic has been tough on everyone, especially on active Gonzaga University students who missed the usual raucous Kennel basketball crowds and the many other activities on campus.

 

            Three members of GU’s Rotaract group shared their experiences during the March 1 Zoom club meeting.  The students included Tyler Zangaglia, Nate Verboort and Justin Leach, all in their Junior year and from Sammamish, WA.  Despite the disruptions, they said the supportive GU community helped ease some of the problems.  

 

            Nate also had international challenges to his experience.  He was enrolled in Florence, Italy, for the semester and was on spring break in Bucharest when Italy’s Covid woes locked down travel in the country.  He was not permitted to return to the GU Florence campus as he had planned to do after his spring break travels.  He took advantage of the extra spring break time and expanded his travel where Covid had not yet emerged.  Then, he had to make other arrangements to return to the U.S.  It took months to get his personal items back to the U.S. from Florence.  Flexibility was key during Nate’s semester in Italy (well, part of a semester anyhow).   

 

            “It definitely made for a good life experience,” Nate said.

 

            Tyler said having to “hunker down” in an apartment with seven Zags was “weird, kind of like high school.”  He said, “We had so much momentum going on campus, but it came to a stop.  It couldn’t get worse.”

 

            Justin said as an engineering student he was able to attend about half of his scheduled classes which were mostly labs, “but only once a week due to the reduction in class size, they alternated which students would show up in-person.  At least we could go outside to walk to those classes.”

 

            “Hopefully, next year (fall 2021) we will have in-person classes,” he said.

 

            Nate said the school had a variety of Zoom alternatives to regular life, “but some freshmen never got out of their rooms.”

 

            The students commented explained that the traditional Thanksgiving holiday at GU stretched into two months as students finished out the fall semester remotely.  “It seemed like a summer break,” they said.  The students said if people do go outside and have problems a 10-day quarantine is imposed and the Welch dormitory is kept open to accommodate those who must be separated with symptoms.”

 

            While they miss the overall social interaction on campus, generally, they said, people have tried to make the best of the circumstances.  There is a genuine caring nature among GU students and their diligence in following Covid protocols.  “Everyone wants the best for everyone.  They are not selfish about things.”

 

            Bulletin editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink

 

            As noted in the March edition of Rotary magazine, World Rotaract is celebrated during March 8-14.  Rotary International President Holger Knaack focused on Rotaractors “are the focus of three presidential conferences this year,” emphasizing cross-generational alliances.”  Knaack said: “That same synergy leads Rotarians to realize that while Rotaractors may have a different culture, we all share a common vision of uniting people to take action.”