By Elizabeth Vander Neut ’26, student correspondent
Eight University of Scranton occupational therapy students traveled to Kauai, Hawaii, from Jan. 8 to 18, 2026, for a fieldwork and service-learning experience that blended cultural immersion, clinical education and community engagement. Accompanied by faculty members Dr. Lisa Kozden and Dr. Courtney Lancia, the students explored Hawaiian values through fieldwork placements and service opportunities across the island. Meredith Lee ’24, OTD’26 and Caitlin Mannion ’26 reflect on their experience.
Please share some location and program highlights from your time in Kauai, Hawaii. How long did the trip run, and what did your schedule look like on a daily basis?
Meredith Lee ’24, OTD ’26: This trip was structured to balance cultural immersion, community service and clinical exposure. Eight students participated in this experience, representing a diverse cohort that included four seniors, two fifth-year graduate students, and two sixth-year graduate students. Two occupational therapy professors accompanied the students on this trip. This diverse cohort made the trip especially unique, as it fostered peer mentorship, collaboration, and shared learning across different stages of professional development.
Daily schedules varied depending on individual roles and placements, but generally included morning cultural immersion activities, community service or fieldwork activities completed by the senior students. In the afternoons and evenings, everyone participated in additional cultural exploration, reflection and group discussions about the activities completed during the day. Community service involved engaging with local organizations supporting individuals with limited access to food and shelter, helping provide access to hot meals, clothing, household items and toiletries. These experiences reinforced the importance of addressing both immediate needs and broader social determinants of health.
Additional experiences throughout the trip included visiting Waimea Canyon State Park, seeing Hawaiian sea turtles at Poipu Beach, attending a traditional luau with music and hula dancing and sampling traditional foods such as fresh fish and fruit. Overall, the structure of this trip and the richness of the Kauai setting created an experience that was both professionally and personally transformative.
Caitlin Mannion ’26: Our 10-day trip allowed us to explore and learn more about the island’s history, culture, and environment. Each day was different as our goal was to embrace the island and whatever came our way. The first few days there we walked around Princeville, where we stayed, finding beautiful paths and trying different food spots. We experienced a luau in Lihue, where we were given a traditional feast and they performed a traditional Hawaiian love story.
During the week, I conducted fieldwork by shadowing various occupational therapists at Wilcox Hospital. We spent our days going from room to room, trying to get patients moving in any way we could and learning more about them. Toward the end of the trip, we helped Hope Collective Church distribute clothes, food, household items and other necessities to those in need. We also explored places like Hanalei, Wailua River State Park and Waimea Canyon, and experienced activities such as ziplining and tubing down an old sugar plantation irrigation system.
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