UHV Jaguar Court coordinator gives back through environmentally conscious acts
Jaguar Court coordinator Elizabeth Frietsch was raised to be kind to the environment and save it one paper at a time.
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| Elizabeth Frietsch |
Frietsch, who is working on her University of Houston-Victoria master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, recently participated in H-E-B’s Earth Day contest, in which shoppers were asked to show how they make every day Earth Day.
Frietsch, 25, showed an unconventional method of reusing paper. She learned the method in part from her mother.
“Back when I was in college, to save money on notebooks, I would try to make copies with used paper,” she said. “I also used any kind of cardboard. When I was really young, my mother made our own notepads out of padding compound.”
Depending on what size she wants, Frietsch cuts the cardboard or clean parts of used paper to make new notepads. She punches holes in the cardboard and ties it with yarn or uses the padding compound to stick the new pages together.
Frietsch made the Top 10 of the H-EB contest, and a videos of her creations and the other finalists were posted on the company’s website for the public to vote on. She ultimately placed fourth. It wasn’t about winning, though, it was about teaching others how to be better to the Earth.
“I do a lot of recycling,” Frietsch said. “I try to do more walking instead of driving. I just want to show people how to protect the environment.”
Frietsch, who is originally from Yoakum, is doing her part at Jaguar Court. Right now, a large recycling dumpster sits in the back of the dorm. She also is looking for other ways students can help.
Frietsch attended Texas Tech University and graduated with her bachelor’s in music education. She was a band director for awhile. She primarily played bassoon, although she can play most instruments. After a several years teaching, she became more interested in counseling.
That’s when the idea to attend UHV came up. Frietsch hopes to graduate in May 2017 and become a counselor in the community.
“UHV is a really nice and tight-knit community,” she said. “You get to work collaboratively with a lot of others.”
Staff Feature is an online profile highlighting staff members at the University of Houston-Victoria. To nominate a staff member, contact Jeremy Shapiro, UHV communications manager, or call 361-570-4296.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
