Volunteer Center gives direction, accomplishment to students

Ashley Stephen always enjoyed mission trips and volunteering in high school.

When the Freeland senior enrolled at Central Michigan University, she found herself when on an Alternative Break for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.

“I’ve been addicted to it ever since,” Stephen said. “It’s really defined my college years.”

Her story is just the one of many to come out of CMU’s Volunteer Center.

Coordinator Shawna Ross said the center reaches about a quarter of the student population with about 5,000 students a year. Last year, the center logged 40,368 hours of service.

“Students pave the way for themselves,” Ross said. “Many of the alumni, if not all, are still involved with volunteering.”

Danielle Schmutz, who graduated in May, is among the active alumni, as she now works as the center’s Michigan Campus Compact through AmeriCorps-Vista.

She encourages students to use volunteering for future job opportunities.

“People should definitely put it on a résumé,” Schmutz said. “I think when students are giving, they are also receiving. As they give more, they also become more aware about what is going on around them.”

This summer, Stephen was a site leader on an Alternative Break in Ghana. Her team worked on a building a library and taught at an orphanage.

She said what really made the trip was the people they met.

“Going to Africa had always been on my bucket list,” Stephen said. “I want to go to countries that are of my comfort zone and get that culture shock.”

She said traveling has given her self confidence and a more personal experience about how the rest of the world lives.

Bellevue senior Jennifer Jordan had a similar experience.

She too said volunteering will change a person’s life.

“We get so many students who say, ‘I wish I knew about this when I was a freshman,’” Jordan said.

The bonding which comes from the experience for volunteers is what she enjoys, she said, as “they are people you come to depend on and trust.” She said it’s like a family.

One member of that family is Grant senior Carly Davidson, who went on an alternative break to Alanta as a freshman. Now, she is site leader of orientation and training and the Safer Sex Patrol coordinator.

“It just makes you feel extremely good to volunteer, go places you didn’t know existed and know how much you can impact others and then see how much they’ve really impacted you,” Davidson said.

To get involved with the Volunteer Center and sign up for activities, check out https://volunteer.cmich.edu/.