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Becoming A Master Student, Tenth Edition
Dave Ellis
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| | Becoming An Activist | | | | | | | |
If you are looking for additional ways to become involved in your community-whether it be on your college campus or in your local town-the opportunities are plentiful but may need some seeking out.
Start by networking, just like you would if you were looking for a job. Ask friends and family members if they know of local organizations looking for volunteers. Consider conferring with your local place of worship. Review your college's web site to see if any groups on campus are planning events.
National organizations such as Habitat for Humanity (http://www.habitat.org/ ), the Boys and Girls Club of America (http://www.bgca.org),
and Big Brother, Big Sister (http://www.bbbsa.org/) have web sites where information is available about local groups and upcoming projects.
Seek out associations that do work that interests you. If for instance you are thinking about working with children, consider iMentor (http://www.imentor.org), a company created to connect busy professionals with underprivileged children in a mentoring capacity. Helping others can be a very rewarding experience and can be a cornerstone for becoming involved in other projects. Participating may be helpful to you when writing an essay to enter into graduate school or be a point on your resume that you can talk about in an interview.
Many students are also participating in programs involving activism during Spring Break, a perfect opportunity to make a difference. Some students from American University, Miami University in Ohio and others have traveled with Witness for Peace (a Washington grass-roots group focusing on social-justice issues in the Americas) to study labor conditions and social issues. ("Activism drives collegiate road trips," USA Today, 5 March 2002.)
A recent 48 hours featuring Spring Break highlighted students who opted to skip Daytona Beach for a trip north-to volunteer with the Salvation Army at Ground Zero. Read about how students helped out on the CBS web site at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/16/48hours/main506322.shtml.
If you are interested in exploring more about ideas for a different kind of spring break, start by visiting the web site of Break Away, (http://www.alternativebreaks.org/) a non-profit group started by two Vanderbilt University students in 1991. Now operating out of the Center for Civic Education and Service at Florida State University in Tallahassee, their web site includes a list of service links and information about opportunities on your college campus.
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