Meet Alyssa Osborne; a student at Cleveland State University, the president of CSU’s Viking Expeditions and a lover of the outdoors.
Alyssa is currently a Junior at Cleveland State, majoring in Nonprofit Administration and minoring in Spanish. Viking Expeditions, a student-run service organization that came to fruition back in 2007, has played a formative part in Alyssa’s time on campus thus far. Her experiences of organizing and recruiting volunteers with VE cemented her major choice of Nonprofit Administration.
As a member of the organization for all of her three years on campus, Alyssa has not only had the opportunity of taking part in a multitude of different service trips, but has also been able to become the president of the organization. While she describes her role as challenging at times, Osborne is passionate about being the president of Viking Expeditions. It has taught her how to prioritize better, how to be a better team player and how improtant positive reinforcement can be in a team setting.
During her time with Viking Expeditions, Alyssa has traveled to Sacramento, Houston, New Orleans and the Shawnee National Forest with her classmates, all to serve others. Osborne and her fellow Vikings have done anything from building fences, to working in food pantries, to assisting with hurricane relief.
While she has enjoyed her out-of-state service trips, some of Alyssa’s favorite service experiences have occured right here in Cleveland. She has volunteered at the West Side Catholic Center, Ohio City Bike Co-op, the Great Lakes Science Center and at one of her favorite places, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. At CVNP, Osborne and a few other students were able to spend the weekend building and restoring trails.
When Alyssa isn’t studying or serving the community, she likes to stay active and be outdoors. She especially enjoys running, camping, hiking and going to different national parks.
As a native of Kinsman, Ohio, a small town just outside of Youngstown, Osborne has appreciated the city life in Downtown Cleveland these past three years. After living in various different student housing locations throughout the Campus District, including the Euclid Commons, Fenn Tower and the Edge, Alyssa has come to appreciate the walkability of the area. She particularly likes being a short walk away from Heinen’s, CVS and the House of Blues.
With Viking Expeditions offering more upcoming service trips to Denver, New Orleans and Nashville, Alyssa looks forward to participating in more service experiences and watching her student organization grow even more. Alyssa plans to graduate in the Fall of 2019. She sees herself working in the nonprofit industry and would love to work for one of the national parks.
You can follow Viking Expeditions on Instragram: @CSUVE, Snapchat: @Csuserves and Facebook: Viking Expeditions.
Article by: Connor O’Brien