OGDEN, Utah — Spring break may conjure up images of college students frolicking on the beach, but one Weber State student used her time to build a community center in Kenya that she helped design.
“My time in Kenya was life-altering,” said Wood, an interior design student at Weber State University. “It was nothing like what I expected it to be.”
Wood won the WSU Interdisciplinary Design Charette, a 48-hour competition where students design a building for a nonprofit organization from top to bottom, including its design and construction.
“Our team was up until 2 or 3 a.m., and up again a few hours later thinking about square footage, layout, colors, cost and a million other things. We’re all perfectionists, and we wanted our building to be the best," said Wood.
Her team took first place with their design for a Kenya Keys, a community center that includes a library and meeting space, with inspiration from Kenya's national flower and acacia trees.
Team members were each awarded a $1,000 scholarship and a trip to Kenya to construct their winning design.
Wood and 30 other students spent 10 days there to begin building the structure, mixing cement by hand and laying bricks for the foundation.
She hopes to own an interior design company one day, but for now credits her professors for their support and inspiration.
“They’ve not only had an impact on how I see design, but how I see the world."
