A Busy Fall on Campus

The past few weeks have gone into high gear at UMass Boston and with MACC. So I thought I would write some about two of my favorite events that have occurred so far, both of which are annual events that I was to organize and lead. The first project was Good Neighbor Day, which occurs in the fall and spring. Good Neighbor Day at UMass Boston usually consists of a single event the premise of which is to get students involved in the local community. This year Sherrod, the Director of our office, and I had the idea of doing onesie and bib decorating for an organization known as Dorchester Cares , which provides gift baskets to new mothers in Dorchester. We found this a fitting event as UMass Boston is a part of this community and we want UMass Boston to become more recognized as a participant and activist within Dorchester. We set up during the day outside of the Campus Center, and found curious students lining up to decorate onesies and bibs. It was a great event because it was a little bit outside of the box and repainted students ideas about service can be.

Then I was put in charge of organizing the UMass Boston Volunteer Fair. I started almost from square one for this event, although I had some pictures from past fairs and a few intake forms to look over that had been submitted by organizations who participated in the past. I was unsure about how to run a volunteer fair, but this was a project I just had to dive right into. We booked space to hold the fair a month and half in advance and decided to order lunch for those who would come out to our campus. I knew of many community partners in the Boston area, as I had done a lot of work setting up volunteer trips as an undergraduate student so I knew I would want to invite them to our fair. In order to find groups to come, I decided to contact the community organizations whom I saw in pictures of prior fairs and I also decided to look to community partners I worked with as an undergraduate student, because keeping those connections alive was very important to me. So the first step to making the fair a success was for me to get in contact with these folks and invite them to our fair. I began advertising, and started to be contacted by more and more groups. UMass Boston is known for its community engagement, but many of the groups I contacted, or who contacted me had never been to UMass B to recruit for volunteers, so it was a new community they were excited to engage with in conversation in the hopes of attaining more volunteers for their projects. Response was slow, but before I knew it I had upped our table count to 40 and was expecting at least 38 different organizations at the fair. I hung posters, sent out emails, and waited for the day to arrive while busily organizing the last minute details of parking passes, lunch, and transit. Then the fair arrived, and students flocked to the fair, all of the groups who came walked away willing to participate, and had a full stomach from lunch. Now because of the success of the Fall Volunteer Fair, we will have one in the spring as well!

Welcome to the MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA Blog - Dana's Journey to VISTA

Hello! I'm Dana Lyford, I am the MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA at Framingham State College and this is my first year serving as a VISTA. I was born and raised in Central, Mass. and just recently graduated from Worcester State College where I spent a wonderful four years realizing my passion for higher education and student affairs. While at Worcester State, I earned my degree in English with a concentration in Writing and was very active in the college community.

My plan since my sophomore year was to graduate from WSC and move on to a Master's program in Student Affairs immediately. I even went so far as to apply and get accepted to a Master's program all before I joined the VISTA program. It was a really spontaneous decision I made to sit down at my computer and visit www.americorps.gov one afternoon and ever since then I couldn't stop thinking about joining AmeriCorps. I looked through many programs, and I was very surprised and pleased to come upon the MACC*VISTA program because I never could have imagined being to join my desire to give back to my community with my passion for higher education. I applied for the MACC*VISTA position and after I got accepted it didn't take me long to make the decision to join up with the program and put grad school off for a year.

I didn't fully understand when joining how beneficial this program was going to be for me, both personally and professionally. I came into it kind of blindly, unsure of what to expect but after meeting my fellow VISTAs and hanging out with them for the week of Pre-Service Orientation, I knew I was in the right place. Not only have I come across a giant new group of friends that I know I can count on, but I've come into a network of wonderful professionals who I know I can turn to for support any time I need it. Every day I am thankful for my decision to join as a MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA.

Growing up in Massachusetts, MACC was a perfect fit for me. I have called the Bay State home for 22 years and have absorbed everything it has to offer. I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of a program who works so hard to strengthen education for the people of Massachusetts.

I look forward to an exciting year, and am happy to be on board to get things done for America!

*VISTA love,

Dana

Welcome to the MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA Blog!

My name is Jessica Chandler and I am a 1st year AmeriCorps*VISTA member.  I am working at Regis College in Weston, MA and I am currently getting lots of things done for America!  I am a recent graduate of Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan with a Bachelor of Social Work degree.  I was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan but realized there was so much more out there for me and I knew it was now or never.

My MACC journey started in March of 2008 when I was trying to decide if I wanted to pursue graduate school, a real job or take my life in a different direction for a couple of years.  I successfully choose the last option.  I knew there were a few things I wanted: 1) to work with students my age and in a college setting, 2) to get out of Michigan and 3) to do something meaningful with my life.  I have always been passionate about service and volunteering so I figured what better way to accomplish my three goals then to join AmeriCorps.  I researched and spoke with people who knew more about the different programs then I ever could and narrowed down my search.  Applied to the MACC program, was accepted then waited to find out where I would be spending my next year.

Through MACC and the AmeriCorps*VISTA program, I have been given so many opportunities.  This is not one of those programs where you are thrown into a set of circumstances and you must go at helping to change the world by yourself.  I feel completely supported and know if I ever need anything I have 30 some odd people waiting to help me along the way.  The reputation, resources, support and organization were among the many things that drew me to the MACC program.  Moving 700 miles away was not easy but knowing that I'm not going at it alone has been very comforting.

Although, I have not been at Regis very long I certainly have a great job!  My work plan has taken different shapes and forms but I really like what I am doing.  I get to do a lot of the behind-the-scenes work for our freshmen students and I am made to feel like my opinion counts and I am part of the staff.  I am currently working on helping find community service placements for roughly 250 students and working on a semester long reflection piece that will be used in the spring semester.  I also have been given big projects to head up and work on such as a community partner database and a volunteer e-newsletter for our campus community.  My great supervisor has also given me chances to branch out and work with other offices on our campus.  He has given me the opportunity to help out in other areas that I am passionate about and gain some experience in the world of higher education.

Thinking about it now I couldn't imagine doing or being any other place then I am right now.  Although, I do occasionally miss home and the life of a college student, I know I am right where I need to be.  I'm not sure how the next year is going to turn out but I can't wait.

Welcome to the MACC AmeriCorps*VISTA Blog -- Erika's VISTA Story

Hello internet world!  Welcome to the new MACC (Massachusetts Campus Compact) AmeriCorps*VISTA Blog, we hope this will be a resource to you all in getting to know what we MACC VISTAs do in our everyday lives while making a difference in the Commonwealth!  Now first, let me introduce myself.  My name is Erika Rydberg and I am a first year MACC VISTA here in Massachusetts.  I was born and raised in the lovely town of Easton, MA which is 30 miles directly south of Boston.  After graduating high school, I became one of the many young people whom flock to Boston to attend college or university.  

I attended Emerson College in downtown Boston, which is mainly known for its quirky student body, and its communication and arts curriculum.  White at Emerson I studied Communication Studies and Writing, Literature, and Publishing.  I found myself extremely involved in campus life from playing tennis to being on the class board, but I found my passion in doing service.  My dormitory life consisted of living in a "learning community" where I was placed to live amongst people with a similar interest, which happened to be service.   Our floor was known as the "Leadership through Service" Floor (LTS) and we took classes themed around our interest with titles such as Local Action Global Change and Research Writing: Art in Action.  My fellow LTSers and I often found ourselves participating in service projects on the weekends.  From my humble beginnings on the LTS floor, I joined and became president of an on campus service group known as Imagine.  One of my proudest achievements while in school was from my work founding an Alternative Spring Break program, which still exists at Emerson today.

So here is the big question - why did I join MACC VISTA?  I was someone who dreamed of doing Peace Corps, but as I engaged myself in service from volunteering for four summers with families affected by 9/11 to volunteering in my local community while in  Boston, I realized that I really wanted to start doing service at home.  Between realizing that I found change on my home front critical to my personal growth and education, and also wanting to give back to the Massachusetts community that gave me so much, I decided to apply to become a VISTA.

I found out about MACC because of two core people in my collegiate education - the Director of the Service Learning and Community Action office at Emerson, and the Assistant who happened to have been a MACC VISTA when I began college.  Heather, the Assistant at Emerson, helped me start the Alternative Break program and became one of the most powerful albeit non-traditional teachers for me while in college.  She also became a good friend and ally, and although she was only a few years older than me, I felt she was someone who became a powerful service-learning change agent at Emerson and gained a lot from her experience as a VISTA.  It was Heather, the Assistant, and Jen, the Director, who inspired me to take a chance and continue doing the work I loved doing while an undergraduate at Emerson.  Once I was told more about MACC I decided it would be somewhere where I would want to spend a year of my post-undergraduate life.

And nothing more than an abracadabra later, I find myself a MACC VISTA working at UMass Boston.  I work within the Student Leadership and Community Engagement Office and am working on several projects including Beacon Voyages for Service (an Alternative Break program), Hunger and Homelessness Week, and a big UMass Boston Volunteer Fair.  Stay tuned for more information on the day to day in my next post!

Yours in Service,

Erika