Volunteers - Matt
Welcome! My name is Matt and I am from New Hartford, New York. After detours through Columbia University in New York City and Nativity Preparatory School in Wilmington, DE, I've returned upstate. It's nice to be around snow and Buffalo Bills fans again!
Last year, I taught at a school for low-income boys. The program was similar to the CCSC in that I made little money and worked towards social justice. But it was different, too. The CCSC is not just about living on little (although we do) and working with the poor (although we do that, too). It also requires that we focus on spiritual development and living with people much different than we are. Neither of those has come naturally to me. But if there is anything the program emphasizes, it's that we grow through being uncomfortable. I agree with that.
The biggest attraction of the CCSC was the opportunity to work at Neighborhood Legal Services in a position with a lot of responsibility. The job has exceeded my expectations. As the Homeless Task Force paralegal, I interact daily with clients, learn welfare law, and work closely with smart, committed lawyers. It's very unusual to find legal jobs out of college that provide this much responsibility; generally, paralegals out of college spend all their time at the copy machine. The NLS job is the opposite of that. Because I intend to attend law school next year, I cannot imagine better preparation.
Without doubt, the Diocesan Service Corps is intense: there are certainly easier ways to spend a year. There are some people who prefer coasting, but I think the years after college are best spent challenging oneself. More than I could have imagined, the CCSC has done this.