Author: An TranVu

I made hard decisions and big leaps in 2021 that led me to an unexpected call to serve. I wasn’t sure what I would do next, until this opportunity presented itself. Even though I was scared, even though it was out of my comfort zone, I ventured out to Poplar, Montana to serve for a…

This is my second year of service at the University of Montana Food Pantry. This is also the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, and things are not looking up for the majority of people- not even close. Everywhere I look, people are struggling to make ends meet. Homelessness is on the rise, people are…

MTCC AmeriCorps at Great Falls College MSU operates out of the Office of Student Engagement and oversees the Great Falls College MSU Food Pantry. Students are welcome to find me for food, hygiene products, and meaningful human interaction, all freely given with no strings attached. Once in a while, I throw in some words of…

I grew up on a quiet little street in the coal mine region of northeast Pennsylvania that dead ended at railroad tracks. The coal cars would wobble and rock as they shook the ground below me. I would rush to collect coal that toppled from the overflowing cars. The deep black anthracite would come in…

I came out of the closet when I was 16 in a Wisconsin town that did not embrace its LGBTQ+ community. In many instances, it outright rejected those who came out of the closet. Fortunately, I have an overwhelmingly supportive family, and I only lost a couple of friends as I embraced my identity as…

The inside of my wrist is tattooed with a pencil. Cliché, perhaps, for an English major, but more important to me now than it was when I got it in 2019. It was the start of my Junior year, and I was reeling from an Emily Dickinson poetry class that had shattered my world and proved to…

My first full week of VISTA service began with the State of Montana Arboretum (SMA) Committee Retreat in the Lubrecht Experimental Forest, roughly forty minutes from the University campus. The Committee of a dozen members spent the day working on a three year vision for the State of Montana Arboretum.

Have you ever had a feeling of uncertainty? Like you’re struggling to find who you are and what you are called to do? If so, I am right there with you. Society expects us from an early age to know who and what we want to be when we grow up, but I have come…

There is a bright yellow sign hanging in the middle of the offices of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) – Missoula branch. It reads: “NO HATE. NO FEAR. REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE. #ChooseHumanity.” This sign lays out the perfect structure for me to use for self-reflection on my first month of service as a Montana Campus Compact…

Close to reaching my third month of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Montana Campus Compact (MTCC), volunteering during the 2021/2022 year is a significant time to serve. I am so glad/grateful that federal programs and organizations like this one exist. With everything going on across the country, what the United States of America…

Post-grad school life is awkward and consciously humbling, in some good ways and other much harder ways. Can I afford to live alone? No. Can I even afford to live above ground, in somewhere other than a basement? Most definitely not. But am I equipped with years of therapy under my belt, a good sense…

I’ve worked seasonally for quite awhile now and must say I do really enjoy the lifestyle. Getting to spend time in different places and constantly pursuing what I am passionate about are a few of the perks. Last summer however, due to the pandemic providing limited options I ended up working a seasonal job that…

I was a proprietary trader for a company in Atlanta. Nice paying job. Nice crib and all. I was getting paid very well but I was filling empty inside and living selfishly. I decided to ask the universe to provide an opportunity to do something more fulfilling. Something that will make me feel better about…

Hi! My name is Kim, and I am an MTCC VISTA member serving at 100 Fold Studio. I have now had the opportunity to serve at 100 Fold as an Americorps State member multiple times and now I am serving here as a VISTA member. 100 Fold Studio is an international, nonprofit architecture firm investing…

I have been reflecting on my past 9 months in Missoula and thinking a lot about the power of time. Time can heal. Time allows for growth, understanding, and building connections. When I first moved to Missoula I was skeptical if it would ever feel like home. Like most good things, it took time for…

This past year has been a whirlwind; it just feels like it has flown by. And now it is time for me to think about what is next, and that is very scary. However, I wouldn’t have figured out what I possibly want to do without this service year. The pandemic has affected everyone in…

Riding the metro home from work in Virginia, on my way back to my apartment in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington D.C., I rested my head against an oil smudged window, and thought “is this really what life as a college graduate is like, is this all it will be from here on out?”…

My entry in to national service came with the coalescence of massive forces in my life, the inescapable shadow of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the search for direction that accompanies a young graduates life after a constant experience in the education system, my drive for social justice, and my desire to redefine myself in my…

I have always dreamed of being an educator. I wanted to be an educator to make a difference and change some lives. When educating, you can often see the impact you are having. You see scores improve, essays get better, and you hear the students’ tell you about their learning. This makes the hard days…

Hey Y’all! My name is Hollis Hubbard and I am serving my second term as a VISTA in beautiful Missoula. I’m originally from Kentucky but my lifelong love for mountains and wilderness brought me out west in 2018 after graduating from college. My favorite things are camping, hiking, skiing, and taking pictures of my constant…