Community Activist – Pennsylvania
“Reflect to progress instead of criticize.”
Nicole was born in Pittsfield, MA on January 2nd, 1987. She has lived in Pittsfield with her parents Chris and Mark for her whole life. She has two younger sisters, Amanda and Rachel. She graduated from Miss Hall’s School in 2005. In high school, she was very involved in the Pittsfield Boy’s and Girl’s Club and she was also on the MHS Varsity basketball team. She entered Lesley University in the fall of 2005. She is currently a human services major there and she is planning on graduating in 2009.
How did you become interested and involved in community service?
When I was 15, my grandmother got me my first job working at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club in Pittsfield, and through there I became involved in the Senior Leader’s Club. It wasn’t so much a leadership or community service club as an opportunity to work with underprivileged kids and learn how to gain their respect. It was more focused on hanging out with a group of fantastic kids and learning about their backgrounds. It was the first time I was really exposed to poverty, alcoholism, drug use and other issues, and it took me some time to really get comfortable dealing with those topics. After working with these kids, I decided I want to be with kids all the time. I relate well more with kids than adults, so being a teacher just seemed like the right thing.
[During] my freshman year at Lesley College, I was really unhappy. I missed home, I missed my friends; I was wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. Then in March, Lesley offered a community service trip to New Orleans as an alternative spring break. I have no idea what I was thinking. I joined the trip and went down to New Orleans. Coming from Boston to Post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana, it was such a shock to be exposed to such need and disaster. My experience really motivated me to keep doing work, because you never know when you might need help. In addition, continuing to do community service meant that I was still in contact with the amazing people I had traveled with who are still my great friends.
What prompted you to become a leader?
Lesley is a place where there are a lot of opportunities and it is very human services-oriented. Because it is in a city, people tend to do things on their own more. I wanted to build a place for students to come together, to meet each other and get to know each other better while helping others. There was already a community service office, but no coordinated group outings. I wanted to provide a place for people who cared about the same thing to get together, and let them know that there are other people out there who feel the same way.
What steps did you take to achieve your goals?
Initially, the Coordinator of Community Service approached another girl who had been working in the office all year about starting a club. She was like “okay, wow” and I could see that she was really overwhelmed, so I asked if I could help. It’s basically spun out of control from there. We started this club and a new retreat program together, and it’s just been a matter of recruiting, brainstorming, and doing.
What obstacles have you faced in achieving your goals?
Being in the city with so much else to do is hard, because students don’t tend to stay on campus after classes. It’s been a challenge to come up with creative ways to get students involved in community service without committing a bunch of time. For example, instead of sponsoring trips to a blood drive, we had a blood drive on campus, which attracted students who would never have time or the desire to go somewhere else. We had a clothing drive to involve the faculty. But the challenge is working on expanding past our 30 core members. Since Lesley went co-ed my freshman year, it’s been hard to get guys involved in community service. Generally thinking about gender roles and how women are conceived of as more maternal and service-oriented, I think men get a little intimidated by the women on campus. We’ve had to work to come up with things that guys might be interested in.
Personally, balancing time is hard. With academics and everything else, it feels impossible sometimes. Fortunately it’s never actually been impossible.
How have you confronted your obstacles?
People tend to join activities and do community service because they think that they should; I don’t do that. I have fun. Community service is something I enjoy doing. I don’t like animals. If you want to go to an animal shelter for the afternoon, I’ll help you get it together and organize it, but I won’t make myself go. I’ll just be unhappy. The minute you start thinking “I should” it immediately becomes a problem and not something you want to do. I try to make community service trips as fun and accessible as possible.
Also, if you aren’t getting anything out of something that you’re doing, learn how to say no. I’ve learned how to turn down things and not feel bad. You have to keep track of what you feel, strive for a balance, and like doing what you’re doing.
How has your experience been shaped by being a woman?
Lesley has a lecture series focused around social change. Over the years they’ve brought to campus a number of different leaders from different countries. It’s been interesting to see women coming from different places who don’t have the opportunities we have in the U.S. I’ve learned to appreciate and take advantage of my opportunities to get involved, and encourage other women to do the same. It’s important as a woman, especially in the U.S., to be out there and taking advantage of the opportunities that we have.
What lessons have you learned from your experiences?
Sometimes things don’t work out, and sometimes your experiences are not as fulfilling as what you thought they would be. Community service is probably one of the most disorganized things I have ever done in my life. You can start and do something, but leave feeling unaccomplished. You take the biggest lesson from your experiences if you have an attitude of “that’s okay, next time, how can I communicate better, what needs to change?” and reflect to progress instead of criticize.
If you had the chance, would you have done anything differently? If so, what and why?
I know its cliché, but I don’t believe in regrets. Sure I was miserable first semester freshman year, but if I hadn’t been, I probably wouldn’t have gone to New Orleans.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
A year ago, I would have been able to tell you exactly: I’d be an elementary school teacher, living in North Carolina, married…I had it planned. But now I’m really interested in pediatric medicine and really interested in starting community service efforts at lot younger age. I think you live in a bubble when you’re young. It would be great to get kids really involved in the community at a young age and start to experience life through other’s eyes. I would be interested to pursue that for younger kids. Right now, I’m trying to sort out what I want to do and why I want to do it. I’d love to do AmeriCorps for a year. And maybe go to medical school and become a pediatrician. Maybe run a free clinic, get a master’s in public health; I just know that I want to keep helping kids.
What advice do you have for young girls who are interested in starting community service or have leadership aspirations?
                                   You know, Nike said it best when they said Just do it. I don’t like Nike, but it’s the best slogan I have ever heard. I wish a woman had said it. I’ve seen so many people who’ve handed off projects or backed down from what they wanted to do, but just do it. Work through the bad experiences. If you stop at 1, you’ll never get what you want. After 4 bad experiences, you may reach your goal, but giving up on what you want to do is not the way to go. Listen to your heart.