Of the five G.O.A.L.S listed, I am most interested in academic enrichment and leadership development. Because I am a Mount Scholar, these things are already practiced in my life already. This year in Mount Scholars, I will be participating in the Year of Service. Year of Service is a commitment of 75 service hours to one or two sustained service projects throughout the first and part of the second semester of your second year. The goal of the Year of Service is to cultivate awareness of social and community issues and develop relationships with others.
The project that I am working on right now for my year of service is with Broad Street Achievement Programs. With Broad Street, I will be helping with their after school program and tutoring kids. Broad Street tackles the issue of education, which is important to me because I believe that equal access to education is a very important topic. One of my main goals through this organization is to build relationships with the students and to recognize that they will be coming from different backgrounds from me.
Additionally, academic enrichment is very important to me, and through my Service Learning Class, I am able to gain this. In class, we talk about many different issues, such as white fragility, opportunity structures, and community involvement. This class allows us to truly examine our own biases and beliefs and reflect on the impacts we have on society. Lastly, this class has brought a new meaning to my Year of Service, because service should be more than just showing up and volunteering, but rather gaining a rewarding experience that will allow me to gain a new outlook.