Marymount students get a feel for Lake County

CLEARLAKE -- For Eric Benitez, who had never ventured outside of Southern California, Lake County was a breath of fresh air. "The air is definitely different," said Benitez, 19, as he stopped near a big oak tree in an otherwise open field. "It's so clean."Benitez, one of 18 Marymount California University (MCU) students who are spending their spring break in Lake County, took a look around the vast expanse of oak-studded grasslands inhabited only by wild life. "The nature - that's different, too," he said.

The MCU (formerly Marymount College) contingent began its first full day in the county at Anderson Marsh State Historic Park, combining a guided tour of one portion of the park in Clearlake with a morning of picking up trash and litter, including a couple of tires and an old shopping cart buried in a creek bed.
"It's a way of giving something back," said Michaela Sears, MCU assistant director of student life and orientation.

read full article at Lake County Record-Bee