Volunteers - Mike Smith
I recently graduated from Williams College, where I majored in philosophy. I came to the Catholic Charities Service Corps with a strong interest in working for non-profit organizations. I have had much experience on the business end of operations, so I enter this year with the hope of "getting my hands dirty" and experiencing first-hand what organizations, such as Catholic Charities, can do in servicing people. This is why I choose to work at the Catholic Charities Food Pantries where I work directly with people in need and talk with them about the circumstances surrounding their situations. I have thoroughly enjoyed these interactions and have learned a vast amount from them. I already feel much better equipped to help others in the future.
Choosing to participate in the Catholic Charities Service Corps is a fruitful and challenging endeavor that I recommend you consider. In the few weeks that I have been here I have begun to diversify and stretch my perspective of myself as well as others. I have seen these changes primarily occur in two ways.
Firstly, my working at the Catholic Charities Food Pantries has enlightened me to a new group of people with which I had never had an opportunity to interact. I am amazed at the courage people have to admit that they need some help and are willing to actually do something about it. Through interacting with these people, I have gained much insight as to what it means to be poor and the services that are out there to help them, even beyond the realm of just providing them with food. Secondly, I have developed new personal skills. We are not only living in a community but an intentional community. We must discuss our desires, interests, and problems which has led to enormous growth and trust in my other community members. I feel that they will be there to support me in this new and demanding environment, which I have found to be necessary. In the process, we have been able to learn a lot from each other's experiences and have been able to directly apply them to how we are currently living our lives.
When looking at the CCSC, I knew that I wanted to make a difference in other people's lives as well as my own. I did not want to immediately begin a career path that would inevitably start me on a long and structured way of life. Now that I have not only made but am living out this decision, I feel that I have made an excellent choice. The time that I have this year will continue to introduce me to new people and experiences that I could not have anticipated, which is an education about myself and others that I feel is very important and difficult to find.