Author: An TranVu

Just over a year ago, I packed up my life in Chicago to come to Montana, moving to a state I’d never been, to live with people I’d never met, and to serve in a capacity I had never before. Having just recently graduated from Villanova University, I was so ready to let my post-grad…

It was the last week of June and by this point, Summer was in full swing. Activities and outings with Soft Landing’s youth had kicked off to a great start and everyone, including myself, seemed eager for more. After introducing the kids to mountain biking and campfires, it was clear that Montana’s outdoors was going…

It’s been nearly a year since I began my AmeriCorps service term, and I didn’t really imagine it ending like this. I was assigned to the EmPower Place’s after school program, where I planned and executed fun and educational activities for local elementary- and Pre K-aged kids. But then the pandemic hit. It was no…

It is hard to believe that 11 months have passed since I came to Montana. I feel as I have only just been introduced to this magnificent place and it has come time for me to leave. I do not think I could have predicted a single thing that has happened in these last months,…

When I began my service term as a Montana Campus Compact AmeriCorps Leader, I viewed it as merely something to fill time while I attended physical therapy. I had recently torn my Achille’s tendon, making it physically impossible to do my job as a wildlife biologist technician and leaving me scrambling for work. My recovery…

No one looks pretty on a Zoom call. Of all the national awakenings in 2020, perhaps this is the smallest and easiest to digest. I haven’t just come to terms with it, however; recently, I’ve found it to be something worth embracing.

We all sat in anticipation waiting to hear who would win the Inspire award at the First Tech Challenge robotics state competition at MSU. This award would determine who would compete at the robotics world championship in Houston, Texas.

I started my service journey more than three years ago, when I decided to join the Peace Corps with my partner. We accepted positions in the Nepal Food Security program, where we practiced sustainable agriculture with community members, encouraged folks to eat more nutritious meals, built improved cook stoves, and educated people on menstrual hygiene…

In the summer after my college graduation, I was working at a bed and breakfast and trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with my life, now that I held a degree. I really had no idea what was next. I found myself looking at tons of jobs, but nothing looked exciting.…

I became a volunteer, family mentor, and intern for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in 2016 when they reopened their field office in Missoula to resettle refugees into the community. The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and…

My relationship with the United States Postal Service has been a tumultuous one. A new piece of mail in my box nearly every day not actually addressed to me, ever increasing postage prices, medical bills which arrive beyond their due date. The most egregious offense, though, was the failure of a “stop package” order put…

When I started my service year I was lost. I was a lost warrior, a United States Marine fighting a battle I didn’t understand. It’s so funny to think about now, because of how the story turned out. But anyways it is always good to start from the beginning. That is where this story begins. 

From the personal benefits and life-long connections to the professional development and education award, there are myriad reasons someone may choose to serve in AmeriCorps. For me, the decision was easy.

Long-time Montanans love to talk about their famously arctic winters. “You live in the east, so this isn’t something you’ll be used to,” they would say with a smirk. Or: “Get ready. Layer up. Be prepared.” These wisdom nuggets were delivered to me at least twice a week. So I bought a winter coat and…

I’m in my second year as a Montana AmeriCorps Leader, and my experience has been one of contrast. In the fall of 2018, I left Georgia and crossed a great swath of the country, prompted by a combination of necessity and a desire for meaningful education work.  I ended up in Sidney, a small sugar…

As I surge into my 5th month of what truly has been a spectacular AmeriCorps VISTA service term at the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE), I am struck by how the experience has given me a detailed look at the gears of change.

It’s always important to have a plan set for the future; you plan where you go to college, what your career will be, and what you will do afterwards. I never had a plan for anything; my attitude toward the future was that I’d figure it out along the way.

American Indians in Math and Science (AIMS), a program through Indigenous Research and STEM Education (IRSE) at the University of Montana, serves middle school students in the Browning and Missoula areas. AIMS encourages students to stay on top of their grades and explore STEM based classes while in school, with the hopes that once the students arrive at college…

It was 2:29pm, and I heard a knock—I was so busy getting the room ready that I hadn’t noticed the police officer’s approach. I waved at him through the glass door, shuffled past the ball wall and the tables and reading nook, and hurried over to let him in. “Hi! I’m so glad you could…

One of the first things we learn to do as humans is communicate. Maybe it’s just through coos, wails, and large amounts of flailing, but we’re trying our best. This is where telling our story begins.