“But That’s How It’s Always Been”: My Journey in Butte, Montana by Brandon Rubertus
Brandon is a VISTA serving with the Science Mine in Butte, MT As I sat down with Dr. Cory Sonnemann and Dr. Doug Coe at Vu Villa pizza last October, I already knew that this casual meeting would mark the beginning of an enlightening journey in Butte. I was still trying to play it cool, they had a whole sales pitch ready for me and I’m not the type to burst anyone’s bubble. And while they did speak of the uphill challenge awaiting me at the Science Mine, a hands-on science discovery center that I would soon be calling home,…
Feeling Like a Bozeman Community Member by Griffin Seyfried
Griffin Seyfried is a VISTA serving with MSU Bozeman’s Student Engagement Office, Bozeman, MT As the snow melts and the days lengthen here in Bozeman, my journey with AmeriCorps VISTA has unfolded with new endeavors, personal achievements, and the ever-present spirit of community engagement. The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity, stretching my skills and deepening my ties to this vibrant community. CatCab: Steering Towards Safer Nights One of the most exciting projects on my plate has been advising the MSU student government in the creation of CatCab, a new safe ride program designed to ensure students…
The Soft Landing Community by Kathleen Lovett
Kathleen Lovett is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Soft Landing Missoula. Prior to beginning my service as an AmeriCorps volunteer at Soft Landing Missoula, a non-profit organization that supports refugee and immigrant families in the local community, my work experiences were largely clinical in nature. I came to Montana with a very specific idea of what direct care and service looked like, and I had strong skills in adhering to HIPAA laws, maintaining therapeutic boundaries, and preserving a healthy work/life balance. Though these skills have been helpful while working in the Youth Program at Soft Landing, I have realized…
Dawson Promise by Ryan Slaton
Ryan Slaton is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Dawson Promise. I began my service at Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana in February. Being from Baton Rouge, Louisiana it has taken some time to get use to the cold and snow. I am adapting very well. For the past six weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know our eight students in our program. Dawson Promise provides services for students facing homelessness, unaccompanied, or have aged out of foster care. The program gives these students the chance to earn an associate’s degree free of charge….
Sink-or-swim; My easy three-rule to surviving a year of AmeriCorps service by Emma Burck
Emma is a VISTA serving with DEQ Energy Office in Helena Introduction Welcome to AmeriCorps, fellow members! If this is your first time serving, I am sure you are ignited with fiery passion and unwavering dedication to get to work! Yes! That’s the spirit! Well, you better be prepared to answer 20+ times what AmeriCorps is about. The official response is: “AmeriCorps is a national service program that aims to address critical community needs and promote social justice, through civic engagement, volunteer mobilization, and partnerships with local organizations.” Or…you can summarize it in one sentence: “Well, it’s sort of like…
Poaceae – Planting for the Future by Almeida Paroubek
Almeida is a VISTA serving with the Native American Achievement Center at MSU Billings Big Bluestem- We’re putting together a native garden at my service site. If this works out the way I hope, it may be the longest lasting project I complete here. With any luck, three years from now the students here will have their own source of juneberries and sweetgrass, and will be able to learn about native pollinators and the importance of protecting them. Little Bluestem- It’s not something a lot of people asked for, though. Honestly, sometimes it feels like there’s only three or four…
What Is a Student? by Parag Desai
Parag Desai is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Flathead Valley Community College. Choices, fundamental to liberal societies, are intricately linked to autonomy, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. The proliferation of options available to students not only defines their academic journey but also impacts the broader societal landscape. In this context, examining the concept of choice becomes pivotal for institutions like colleges, universities, and organizations such as Campus Compact. To fulfill our goals of civic engagement, student success, and responsiveness, we must delve into the decisions students make, the options presented, and the resulting human activity that contribute to…
Serving with TRIO by Alex Lee
Alex Lee is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Fort Peck Community College. For the last time I wrote a blog post, I talked about making a difference. I stated that making a difference was done through relentless discipline, doing a little something all the time to make a big change in the future. The work I do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis was meant to be beneficial for the people in the Native American community. However, making a difference is harder than it seems. There are roadblocks and missteps that have happened which were my fault. The…
Service at Blackfeet Community College by Gabriela Rodriguez-Velez
Gabriela is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Blackfeet Community College. I began my service at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana in September. For the past five to six months, I have had the pleasure of getting to know this community on the reservation. One of my favorite things about service so far has been getting to know a whole new culture and the people in it. One of the most gratifying aspects of immersing oneself in a new community is the opportunity to forge genuine connections with people from different backgrounds. Each interaction becomes a doorway to unraveling…
A Year in Review, Halfway Through by Olivia Holstine
Olivia is a VISTA serving with Fort Peck Tribe’s Office of Environmental Protections at Fort Peck Community College Here at the start of my second year at my host site, it’s interesting to look back and take stock of where I am now and what I need to do. My project is helping the Fort Peck Tribes in Montana develop a Climate Resilience Plan*. For context, climate resilience positions are newer to VISTA, but predate the new American Climate Corps. It’s been a learning experience for everyone involved. AmeriCorps VISTA is still learning how to adapt their job descriptions and…
A Farewell to Service by Ethan Krenzer
Ethan is an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving with The Moving Mountains Foundation in Missoula, MT. Now six months into my third year with AmeriCorps Montana as a VISTA, sharing my experience in the program is something I have attempted to do in the past. The opportunity to serve with three separate nonprofit organizations has been a great opportunity to give back. While the experience has made me a better team member, given the numerous needs of residents, it has not always been easy to help my host organizations fulfill or live up to their mission or vision statements. From isolation,…
My Journey with Soft Landing Missoula’s Girls Leadership Council by Lorraine Gardner
Lorraine Gardner is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Soft Landing Missoula. In the community of Missoula, Montana, Soft Landing Missoula stands as a welcoming place for refugees and immigrants. As a dedicated member of this organization, my experience has been both rewarding and transformative, particularly through my involvement with the Girls Leadership Council. This initiative is tailored to empower female high school refugee students, fostering leadership skills, cultural connections, and invaluable mentorship. Soft Landing Missoula’s Girls Leadership Council is a testament to the organization’s commitment to holistic refugee integration. Created for female high school students, this council serves as…
A Sweaty Sunday by Jonny Dugger
Jonny is a VISTA serving with Snqweylmistn in Ronan, MT. As the heat begins to push into me, my only thought is escape. It is too hot in here, I don’t know if can take it, I think I want to leave, I want to leave, I can leave if I want, there is nothing keeping me in this place, i can leave, take a deep breath, slowly through the nostrils, it’s so damn hot. It’s dark, I can only see the rocks glowing red, I can only hear the voices in prayer, the sizzle of the water as it…
Schedule Struggles by Kathryn Barton
Kathryn Barton is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Salish Kootenai College Upward Bound. “You’re up for anything!” I’ve heard this from many people, many times. It’s a compliment, but it’s also a nice way to say that I’m the person who asks when and where to show up and what I should wear. I’m the person who follows along. I’m the person who agrees to the plans after they’re made. I am NOT a planner. When a teacher at the high school I’m serving asked for help introducing her students to nearby community colleges, I was excited to show…
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by Jessie Zuiderveld
Jessie Zuiderveld is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving with Experiential Learning and Career Services at University of Montana. This past week we celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday meant to honor the life and accomplishments of MLK. As a prominent civil rights figure, Dr. King’s tireless efforts towards equality through peaceful protest led to groundbreaking changes in the United States. The holiday in his name was first observed on Jan 20, 1986, making this the 38th year that it was celebrated. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is unique in that it is not just a public holiday…
Heartfelt Histories- Serving with Purpose in a Museum by Grace Lowery
Grace is a VISTA serving with the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Last month, I attended a national AmeriCorps VISTA training conference in Dallas, Texas. It was very special to be at such a large gathering of people in a similar position as me. A lot of the time, when talking to people about AmeriCorps, they don’t really know what the program is or how it works. There were many opportunities for collaboration, networking, and discussion of VISTA-related topics. It was nice to be able to talk about the ups and downs of service within the diverse melting pot of…
Stuck by Parag Desai
Parag Desai is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at Flathead Valley Community College. “Your wheels are spinning in place.” This is what a friend and colleague said to me as we chatted in his office in-between classes this past Spring semester. Three years had passed since I graduated college in May 2020, at the heights of the COVID pandemic, and I had only a negligible cluster of professional experiences to show for the time spent. Attempts at carving out some sort of career path within this time—as education goes virtual, rent soars, with layoffs and budget cuts abound—did not provide…
Purpose and Placement by Joanna Massier
Joanna is a VISTA serving with Park County Environmental Council in Livingston It’s always mattered to me where I live. From an early age was enamored with the idea of moving away from Iowa, leaving forever, and going to live in a utopian city somewhere. For a long time, this perfect escape was Canada, a mythical place where some aunts and uncles lived and where my dad was from. In my imagination, Canada was a place I could go to start fresh, a magic bullet for my personality flaws. This dream lasted well into my adolescence, even representing a possible…
Mindsight – Finding Myself Through Service by Raymond Knight
Knightian Uncertainty: Rolling the Hard Six “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance. It is the illusion of knowledge.” ― Stephen Hawking. As we reached the midway point in the COVID19 hysteria that gripped the nation, (and the world at large), mandatory quarantines left all of us with lots of extra time on our hands. Like many around me, my idle mind led me to take a long hard look at where my life was going. I began asking myself such questions as: Will this pandemic ever end? What will life be like in the aftermath? What will the…
The Key to Student Engagement by Laurie Koepplin
Laurie Koepplin is an AmeriCorps College Coach serving at University of Montana Western. Lately, I’ve been reading at least an article a day from the online publication: Inside Higher Ed. Every article in the student success section relates to being a College Coach. Today’s article highlights something that I experienced firsthand yesterday. Shawn VanDerziel, President and CEO of National Association of Colleges and Employers, stated that, “We have to catch students where they are and not just rely on them seeking out the services.” (Flaherty, 2023) The article focuses on students’ use of career centers on college campuses. This is…