Category: Member Blog Posts

By Amon Barry a.k.a., Prof. Barry | June 9, 2021 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…

By Omiah Mitchell | November 29, 2021 These past two years have been unlike anything I have ever experienced before. My mind would have never been able to conceive what has occurred in this world during these past two years. At first it was wonderful to rest and just be still. Then, life quickly became…

By Demetrius Sudduth-Peterson | February 4, 2022 Before AmeriCorps, I was a high school substitute teacher with interest of gaining more professional development and career readiness within higher education. The education benefits and network provided by AmeriCorps was my initial motivating purpose, however, after being three weeks into my term, I now feel beyond appreciative…

By Elizabeth Madison | December 11th, 2024 With two cars packed up and loaded to the brim, a passenger seat well equipped with snacks, and enough video essays downloaded on my phone to occupy myself for a few hours, I set off east with my sister towards Missoula, MT. I had to pull over to…

By Olivia Holstine | December 2nd, 2024 Well, here we are. Just over 2 years since I arrived. 25 months of learning, growing, frustration, uncertainty, excitement, and joy. As usual, I struggled with what to talk about and then ended up with a three part dissertation on my feelings. Let’s go! Part The First: This…

By Nick Bennett | November 1st, 2024 There is something special about being on the road here in Montana. In such a vast state, with large distances between population centers, the road inevitably becomes a key aspect of your life. Where I serve, in the northern Hi-Line region near Canada, travel takes a considerable amount…

By Liv Sorenson | July 6th, 2024 This week in national service, I became a Certified Interpretive Guide. It’s an official declaration that I learned how to structure interpretive experiences and talks at museums and galleries; which I think will be useful to reworking the volunteer museum docent training materials at my service site. My…

By Brandon Rubertus | September 1st 2024 As my time in Butte draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the past year with a mix of emotions. It’s not totally unlike wrapping up a day down in the shaft — covered in a layer of grit but with a few hidden strands of…

By Joanna Massier | July 24th, 2024 Upon accepting the offer to perform a year of national service in Livingston, Montana, I quickly realized how troubled the market for housing was. Most of the rental units had sky-high rent in the thousands of dollars that would have accounted for all of my living stipend on…

Olivia Holstine | July 9th, 2024 I am an AmeriCorps VISTA currently in my second term at the Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes’ Office of Environmental Protection in northeast Montana. My project is to assist in the creation of a Climate Change Adaptation/Resilience Plan for the Tribes.  Being in my second year, there are…