Second Year of Bonner
This is the point where things began to change for me. I started the semester at Boys and Girls Club like the previous year. However, I had the opportunity to become an intern at United Way Southwest Virginia in Abingdon. I was excited about this because I had never worked with such a large organization. I was the healthy community impact intern, so I was able to do work that went along with the career I wanted to pursue in the medical field. Halfway through the semester I figured out that I did not want to become a doctor, and I wanted to work with nonprofit organizations. I changed my major to Civic Innovation, and United Way was still a great fit for the career I wanted to go into.
During this year, I also became part of the Bonner Leadership Team, and it has been a great experience. It has pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and it has helped build my leadership skills. Attending the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) at Berry College in Georgia was the first thing I got to do as a part of the leadership team. Since then, the team has grown, and there are plans for it to continue to grow. Also, I have had the opportunity to attend several different Bonner events at different colleges, and I have been able to make connections with other individuals at these schools.
This second year of service was a crucial point in my college career, and I did not realize it until I volunteered for a one-time service event. I had the opportunity to work with a group of other students on a community organizing project. We were working with an organization called Big Creek People in Action, and they needed our assistance with putting on their annual spring carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia. I was able to assist the student group with recruiting volunteers, gathering supplies, and other logistical concerns. The event was a great success, and through this I realized that I wanted to do this type of work as a career. I wanted to work with nonprofit organizations, and I wanted to give back to the community. This moment led me to change my major to Civic Innovation, which has been one of the best decisions.
During this year, I also became part of the Bonner Leadership Team, and it has been a great experience. It has pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and it has helped build my leadership skills. Attending the Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) at Berry College in Georgia was the first thing I got to do as a part of the leadership team. Since then, the team has grown, and there are plans for it to continue to grow. Also, I have had the opportunity to attend several different Bonner events at different colleges, and I have been able to make connections with other individuals at these schools.
This second year of service was a crucial point in my college career, and I did not realize it until I volunteered for a one-time service event. I had the opportunity to work with a group of other students on a community organizing project. We were working with an organization called Big Creek People in Action, and they needed our assistance with putting on their annual spring carnival in McDowell County, West Virginia. I was able to assist the student group with recruiting volunteers, gathering supplies, and other logistical concerns. The event was a great success, and through this I realized that I wanted to do this type of work as a career. I wanted to work with nonprofit organizations, and I wanted to give back to the community. This moment led me to change my major to Civic Innovation, which has been one of the best decisions.
Second Year Summer Service
For the second summer of service, I had the opportunity to work at E&H, in order to complete my hours. I worked with the Newbern Project, which is an ongoing project with the Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Pulaski County. I was working to accession documents that the museum has collected from various individuals and families. I worked with court records, business records, family records, and other miscellaneous documents dating from the early 1800s to the 2000s. It was very interesting to see how things have changed in America over time, and it was neat to piece together others' stories to get a new perspective on what was happening at that time. It was challenging work, and it was very different than anything I had ever done before. However, I enjoyed it, and I ended up working with the project the next summer as well.
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Below is a link to an article that was written in the Roanoke Times that highlights the work that was done for this project.
http://www.roanoke.com/opinion/stanley-pulaski-museum-teaches-vital-lessons/article_e9f520dc-f7b9-5bb6-a4eb-d9ed7b1bd6bd.html |