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 lived in Atlantic City, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, and lived all over Michigan from the Upper Peninsula to the coast of Lake Michigan. Yet, each move has its own share of anxiety, excitement and logistics that never seems to lessen. I conserved my packing with just the bare minimum needed to get started. I must remind myself that I was moving within the US, not to another planet. Does Montana have toothpaste? Yes, so I don’t need to pack a year’s supply. Does Montana have my favorite blanket? Nope, so better make room for that. The airport is another hurdle. TSA and bag checking is nerve racking, paranoia prompting, I must always remind myself that no, I did not pack a city destroying bomb. Although my allotted liquid amount being ever so slighting over the limit may make the TSA respond in a similar manner. Overall, I was spoiled with the travel, great boarding, early arrival and departure, and only a little motion sickness when entering Helena on the honestly too small feeling plain. Helena, MT has mostly easy-going weather and people are temperate, and the natural layout of the state is endlessly interesting. The birds on campus, endlessly entertaining in and of themselves, helped me feel welcome. While the brands are different, the food is still good, if a little heavy on the beef.
Second, finding my feet in service. Getting your feet under, spreading your wings, taking that first plunge, beginning service goes by many names, but the reality is the same for each service member. Each service site has its own needs, perks, issues and adjustment period. I was lucky to find a place that I was fairly familiar with, higher education. My first month I was nearly paralyzed with choice anxiety. So much needed to be done, there was so much to learn, and I was given such a long leash that it was almost too much. It is not easy, but if you are a person with a service minded heart, you will find your place. This is what worked for me. Walk your site, make sure people know who you are and what you are there for, and get familiar with how your placement flows in their day to day work. Learn the soft and hard skills of your site. For me this includes finding out how people like to be contacted, who needs more private and needs to have their time ‘protected’, and how to be assertive without getting aggressive when I need something. Hard skills are things like how does this work? How does that work? What google share drive is that in? It will take time, but finding your feet in service will come so long as you keep searching.
Third, making my mark. I eventually settled into a couple different projects for my site. But how do I make my mark? Well, that looks different for each project. For the food pantry, that looks like creating a Standard Operating Procedures manual, creating strong relationships with Helena Food Share, doing drives and keeping those relationships strong, hearing students and stocking the pantry with what they want, and leaving a framework behind that can be picked up and carried forward after I leave. For the Saint Success Center, it means creating a standard for those that come after, training and mentoring so that student workers can make the front desk effective and helpful to the support staff. I lastly have created an Academic Coaching program, and this last is the most tenuis. As of this moment, I don’t know if this program will survive after I leave. I am doing my best to make it long lasting, but without a stable and paid student worker base, it is very unlikely that this program will be around come Fall semester. But that is something that I cannot control. Which is another important part of making your mark, the understanding that some of, if not most of, your work will not survive or be remembered after you are gone. As far as I am concerned, it is still worth doing, even if it is eventually lost.
Finally, looking ahead. My service is scheduled to end in July, but may be done sooner than that. I have been actively looking for work, both inside and outside AmeriCorps. My service has given me invaluable skills that are getting me a lot of interviews, and more important; confidence. The confidence of knowing that I know what I know. Confidence to share that with interviewers, and resilience to move on from rejection. If I could look back and talk to myself from early September, when I was deciding whether or not to serve, I would tell her this. This is what is best for you, its scary and new and sometimes difficult, but it is the right next step for you.
My service has not been easy, or always exciting, or without conflict, but it has always been my way of moving forward. Learning and growing as I live looking ahead at the future’s that may await me. I took this opportunity to learn about what I want to do in higher education, and I have my answer. I love support services. I love working in higher education. and I want to find a job that is rewarding for my spirit and my wallet. I like working closely with students, faculty and staff, and have a lot of drive for education that rests outside the classroom. To this end, I am currently seeking work within Housing, but that is not all. I have the confidence to seek work in places I would have been afraid to apply to before my service. From Colleges to Universities, Mississippi to Arizona, service has given me confidence to tell myself, “just try it, and see how far you can go”.