Category: Member Blog Posts

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…