CIVIC ACTION
Being an actively involved individual in community service and volunteer work is such a critical component not only for students but also for everyone in each of our communities. The great element of this is that most programs do not come with an age limit, gender expectation, title or experience. Although some programs may set restrictions on the type of people they are looking for, it is generally available to everyone. Speaking from a student athlete perspective, I completely understand the difficulties of managing a tight schedule, balancing work, maintaining a social life, among many other things that go unnoticed from the outside looking in. Often times, community service is completed primarily to satisfy either classroom assignments, program and degree requirements or more exact, simply for extra credit. Another issue we face is the simple fact that student athletes may have no idea what resources to use to find these opportunities. Most of the time we only hear of the same types of service projects and albeit they are individually outstanding ways to commit your time, they may seem redundant and have been completed more often than other opportunities that don't receive the same publicity. From my experience, the number of student athlete involvement is most often not as high as it could be. Now, I am not speaking for everyone on this but I do know that for some, community involvement is just not at the top of the student athlete priority list. One of the causes just might be lack of awareness.
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Speaking from a student athlete perspective, I completely understand the difficulties of managing a tight schedule, balancing work, maintaining a social life...
I know without a doubt that without these opportunities, I would not be the person I am today.
My personal experience being actively engaged in my community has taught me many life changing lessons and has allowed me to develop many new skills. These include but are not limited to: networking, organizing, event planning and time management. I know without a doubt that without these opportunities, I would not be the person I am today. Upon the completion of my collegiate career and for my civic action portion of this program, I am developing a system of organizations and programs who are in need of volunteers and service work and utilizing today's technological advances to inform people in a more efficient method.
This will not be a regular announcement board that people unconsciously walk past. Through the combination of the already driven and hard working student athlete mindset and the opportunistic experience of community service, I intend to bring these two critical components together to not only impact the community, but to also impact each and every life involved. This program will allow athletes of all ages and also coaches to discover organizations, schools, companies and many other reputable establishments who are in need of volunteer work. Although this program is not strictly limited to athletes, the primary clients will typically be involved with sport - youth all the way through college.
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One very important factor that has impacted student athletes the most is the lack of awareness of volunteer work. My intentions with this specialized and highly developed system are to raise the bar on both student athlete involvement and also their commitment to service work. While student athletes are so structured and limited with the time they have during the college years, it can be very grueling at times. Constant hours of hard work may often lead us to grow weary of what we are doing. With the implementation of this program, I hope to inspire athletes in the community to become more involved and understand that they are far more than just athletes - they are able to utilize their already established mindsets and passion as an unstoppable force for good. I value this concept very near to my heart because student athletes often get thrown into a stereotypical, metaphorical 'box' where the most important thing in our lives are our sports and academics. Personal experience has proven this to be a fact and not only are we expected to execute our duties as student athletes, we are expected to go above and beyond the set bar. By implementing this opportunity, student athletes can not only focus their time to develop a sense of belonging in their communities but they are also able to 'prove' themselves off of the track, field or court.
I hope to inspire athletes in the community to become more involved and understand that they are far more than just athletes...