<p>Just spoke with my DS. He is one of the student leaders this year after LOVING the program last year! Just wanted to report that they are having a great time and enjoying getting to know everyone. ROLL TIDE!</p>
<p>Thank you so much for posting this. I’m so lonely watching Glee Project by myself – but it helps to know she’s having fun!</p>
<p>Congrats to your DS, Bamafana. What are the activities for Outdoor Action? </p>
<p>My D is doing AA this year as a freshman. I just skyped her in her dorm. She is having a great time.</p>
<p>Cuttlefish oa mainly focuses on an outdoor service project. Whitlo, heard from DS again and he said the group this year is awesome and he knows they are going to have a great week! He also said all the other leaders are awesome! So excited for them. We bought a house in t-town this year and one of my son’s roommates is someone he met in oa! Great place to make friends!</p>
<p>Looks like she has added some Facebook friends when I checked my page this morning – which is not getting me ready to go to work but is calming my mom nerves!!!</p>
<p>Cuttlefish, which school project did your D get? Mine got the M.S. courtyard. She said the leaders are really nice and she thinks she will have a good time. She’s my shy, introverted child so I’m happy to hear she is enjoying it so far.</p>
<p>Bamafana, I got a similar report from myD who is also a student leader. She said yesterday was great, really good group of students, and she was expecting a fantastic week. I believe today was the canoe trip and the weather is perfect!</p>
<p>RTR</p>
<p>Glad to hear that the student leaders’ comments about the OA group this year. Son is doing OA and had a good time at the cookout last night (he was pretty nervous going in). He is pretty shy in larger group settings, but he said he met another student he believed he would be friends with for all 4 years at UA. Can’t wait to hear how things go today.</p>
<p>Do you know what river they are on and what type of work they are doing today?</p>
<p>I haven’t heard any details from Son about today other than it involved canoes.</p>
<p>This was posted today on the UA facebook page:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Alabama News UA Honors College Students Arrive Early for Service-Learning, Storm Recovery Projects](<a href=“http://uanews.ua.edu/2011/08/ua-honors-college-students-arrive-early-for-service-learning-storm-recovery-projects/]University”>http://uanews.ua.edu/2011/08/ua-honors-college-students-arrive-early-for-service-learning-storm-recovery-projects/)</p>
<p>I’ll ask D which river.</p>
<p>i do know that the OA are making breakfast together every morning. By the end of the week they will all know at least 40 people on campus. Last year D remarked that it was great to walk around campus and see familiar faces before classes even began.</p>
<p>OA is a fabulous program and you couldn’t ask for a better student leader than timeflew’s daughter. My son thoroughly enjoyed last year’s program and met one his best friends (and current roommate) at OA.</p>
<p>BamaMomof3: We just got home. D is doing Focus First in AA not OA. They did eye exams on the 2-5 year olds. She thought they were so sweet.</p>
<p>Aw, thanks Malanai!<br>
MAbama, they canoed the Sipsy river today -</p>
<p>[The</a> Sipsey River in Western Alabama](<a href=“http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/where/rivers/sipsey/]The”>http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/where/rivers/sipsey/)</p>
<p>DD in OA texted a few hours ago…Today was awesome! canoeing was great 
We had just gotten in the door 10 minutes earlier from our flight home…So nice to get this text and know she is happy!</p>
<p>Timeflew, you are good. Thank you.</p>
<p>Heard from DS tonight. Said canoe trip was GREAT! Timeflew, my son commented about how he thought the leaders were GREAT this year! I’m sure he’s having a GREAT time with your child!!! RTR</p>
<p>Does anyone have any updates from OA day 2?</p>
<p>OA update: Just spoke to DD she said she had a great day in the Perry County park, she mowed with a push mower (had never done that before) said if she knew how fun it was she would of been mowing for us all these years or doing it to make extra money in the summer…wait til I tell her Dad she said that! She said they also repaired benches, others were mulching trails, picking up logs and doing some biodiversity work. Also mentioned climbing 10 flights of stairs of a bird watching tower and once up there they had a great view of the swamp lands, she thought it was really peaceful and beautiful in a unique way. She was curious that all work in the park is done by volunteers, wondered why no state or local funding to maintain the areas and promote it more as a tourist attraction. She compared it to her experience in the Adirondack Mountains (saying the beauty of the areas is very different but still both beautiful) She was thinking there is opportunity for jobs, more tourism. Encouraged her to do her research on it and ask the questions.</p>