Category: Member Blog Posts

By Isabella Culver | July 28 2025 As I am concluding my second term as an AmeriCorps Service Member, I am constantly in a state of reflection of the things I have learned and experienced the past two years. Both of my terms, while vastly different (my first term in rural Vermont and second term…

By Lucy Hicks | July 9, 2025 After a year of service at the University of Montana, I have learned a lot. It has been a difficult year, with lots of uncertainty not only for me, but also for my colleagues in AmeriCorps. Even with this, we have continued our service, knowing the importance of…

By Avery Erickson | June 10, 2025 The summer season has begun at Soft Landing, and our students are eager to step out of the classroom and into more social, playful experiences. As I reflect on the academic year, I am reminded of the quiet persistence of student growth. This spring, there have been abundant…

By Vincent Feeley | June 3, 2025 As my service in Montana begins to wind down and draw to a close, I’ve been thinking about everything I’ve done so far during my time here. I’ve been thinking a lot about all of the projects I’ve helped my office complete, the students who I’ve advised, and…

By Elizabeth Madison | May 12, 2025 The way my AmeriCorps service term has panned out is very different from what I thought it was going to be. When applying for service I knew it was going to be hard, I knew there would be difficult moments, but I don’t think much could have prepared…

By Isabella Culver | May 5, 2025 I’m 24 going on 25 years old and shocker–I still don’t know what I want to do or where I want to end up. This is my second year of AmeriCorps service, and as the days go on, I constantly think about where I would be if AmeriCorps…

By Amber Arizmendi | April 21, 2025 I began my service in September, which feels like both a year and three days ago, and I had some reflections on my service that I wanted to share.  First, the drama of moving and adjusting to a new place. I am a fairly mobile person. I have…

By Lucy Hicks | April 14, 2025 As an AmeriCorps member, you may be worried about your future after service. I know I am! It’s overwhelming to look at all the opportunities, or even to find them while you’re focused on service. My position at the University of Montana has allowed me to learn more…

By Vincent Feeley | April 7, 2025 So far, my service here at Montana State University has been a very rewarding experience. I’ve been a part of a few large projects already that have really excited me, and being able to directly help students find housing has also been very worthwhile. Despite all of this,…

By Jayce Wippert | April 1, 2025 Hello my name is Jayce Haylee Wippert I am an enrolled member of the great Blackfeet Nation. My college site is currently at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, MT. I first got the job with AmeriCorps back in September of 2024. It was very different from any other…

By Avery Erickson | March 19, 2025 As the end of the school year gradually approaches and the winter ice melts under an emerging spring sun, I am reminded of the cyclical nature of change. Just likethe seasons, students undergo tremendous cycles of growth, challenge, and transformation as they move through high school, college and…

By Amber Arizmendi | March 7, 2025 I was given the terrifying privilege of managing the Fighting Saints Food Pantry at Carroll College as part of my service. It is not often a person has the responsibility and privilege of providing food stuffs for a hungry college population. Even less likely is the freedom of…

February 11th, 2024 | Joanna Massier In researching and developing a community resilience guide, my service has taken me to some unexpected places. From city and county board meetings to cat sterilization clinics, I could never have predicted the experiences my service would provide to me. More importantly, my participation in various community organizations and…

By Katey Funderburgh | March 25, 2022 Prison abolitionist Ruth Wilson Gilmore believes that “where life is precious, life is precious.” When we treat each life with the full sanctity it deserves, when we provide people with everything they need to live healthy, happy lives, we engage in mutual care for our communities. We reduce the chance…

By Octavia Jimenez-Padilla | March 24, 2021 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…

by Jerico Cummings | December 16, 2020 My final year of high school I had to take a senior level government class to meet the social studies requirement per the Rapid City Area Schools district policies. I remember being in a classroom taught by the head football coach at the time.His classroom was in the freshman…

by David Mariani | May 6, 2022 Some questions in life are better left unasked. “Where are you from?” makes me bristle with its (hopefully) unintended micro-aggressive questioning of my origins and American-ness. “What do you do for work?” forces me to do a sidelong glance for insinuating my worth goes only as far as…

by Andrea Aviles | January 14, 2021 One morning I woke up and glanced over to my window. To my surprise, I noticed how my favorite plant, my golden photos, was dying. An upset feeling washed over me. How was this possible if yesterday she was perfectly normal? I watered her regularly, sang to her,…

by Haransh Singh | January 16, 2020 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. Ever…

By Cindy Morales | June 10, 2022 Every community is different. Oftentimes people are measured by a standard level used for all, that completely disregards the outliers and minoritized individuals. These standards are based on communities or groups of people who do not encompass everyone. Serving on the Fort Peck Reservation with high school students…