AIC Day is a day in which American International College goes out and makes their presence known amongst the community in Springfield, Massachusetts.

This semester, a big group of about 130 students volunteered to rake leaves around the neighborhood backyards. It was a nice day out for what would be a nice day in November.

Neighbors were very pleased and appreciative of the good job that the students did to clear their yards of leaves.

The community saw the work we had done and reached out for us to do more raking on that same day. Hundreds of bags were full of leaves and branches of those very backyards the were raked.

Tom, a resident of Springfield told us, “It was something I physically cannot stand and for these guys to get this done makes me happy and makes me root for AIC.”

He was just one of the pleased home owners in the area.

AIC student Eugene Quirk participated, saying, “This time it was different from past years where the work was not so difficult, but it was something we enjoyed doing together as a team.”

Here is a quick shout out to AIC athletes that were present including but not limited to the baseball, hockey and soccer teams.

“It was nice to be able to see these big smiles that we got from the people that live in Springfield,” said Kyle Brown about how he felt about his first ever volunteer work.

The whole day was planned out for everyone by workers at Campus Rec and Campus Life. It was coordinated and made for us to have some fun but also be safe around Springfield.

When we heard from Jordyn Dewinkeleer, all she could say was, “Wow, this felt good. I’m speechless and I don’t know why.”

This AIC Day in comparison to past ones, had a better feel to as everyone was so willing to make the community smile.

Allen Girourd of Campus Rec was just one of the many AIC staffers who made this day happen.

“Nothing sits better in my stomach than making someone’s day better and grandma’s cooking,” Girourd said.

Throughout the day, students could be heard saying things like, “It just that feeling of satisfaction that you did some good today” and “In the world we live in, happiness is all that could bring joy and we brought that to the community.”

Breakfast was provided by AIC for its students and it was a fresh start to the early Sunday morning.

Big piles were made as kids jumped in and out of the leaves. Rakes and gloves provided for the event. Army-style lines were made as they ran through the backyard leaving only bits of leaves left. People were able to make the American International acronym with the leaves and the grass.

Students got buried under the piles of leaves at one house and a missing child alert was posted in a comical and jokingly fashion. Speakers were brought out to refresh the college students and it made everyone vibe. As cars drove by they shouted out, “Yes AI” as a way to motivate those still raking.

All in all, sights and sounds made it clear that AIC Day was a success and memories are kept and are to be talked about in the future. We hope to see the number of students involved grows and maybe even doubles. Free t-shirts for the students, just a lasting remark to the day that was. This will surely be talked about for years to come and it will also be traditional.