For Marquette students, service opportunities aren’t confined between 9th and 20th streets. They stretch far and wide, reaching out to all corners of the country, all countries of the world.
Marquette alumni Caroline Corcos, Lauren Stoxen and Brian Harper know this first hand. Each continued answering the call to serve, even after graduation.
Lauren Stoxen | Arts & Sciences ‘11 | AmeriCorps VISTA
For recent graduate Lauren Stoxen, it’s the perfect time to volunteer.
“I just graduated and don’t have many things tying me down,” Stoxen said. “I know this is the most opportune time in my life to spend a year doing service.”
After considering several service programs, Stoxen decided to go with AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America, and work in both Minnesota and San Francisco.
But this isn’t her first time volunteering. Stoxen participated in high school mission trips, Midnight and Noon Run meal service programs, tutored ESL students and served on the Hunger Clean-Up public relations committee at Marquette.
“AmeriCorps VISTA appealed to me because their mission is to build capacity in non-profit organizations and communities to help bring individuals and communities out of poverty,” she said.
Stoxen began her work with AmeriCorps in Minnesota immediately after graduation. There, she spent her mornings working one-on-one with seven children in a Minneapolis public school. In the afternoon, she volunteered at a community center in St. Paul.
“Minnesota has the highest (educational) achievement gap in the country, which is really horrible,” Stoxen said. “So it’s rewarding even if I can help a few kids improve or sustain their reading and writing over the summer.”
This past August, Stoxen was hired as the Habitat for Humanity VISTA outreach coordinator in San Francisco, where she’ll work for a year.
“After living in Milwaukee and seeing how the housing crisis affects so many people, I wanted to work for an organization like Habitat that helps provide affordable housing to people who need it,” Stoxen said.
As outreach coordinator, she works to increase Habitat’s presence in the San Francisco Bay area and improve community relations, preparing families for homeownership.
“I strongly believe in working for something, not for someone,” Stoxen said. “And with my position at Habitat and in future jobs, I hope I can keep helping people and doing work I enjoy.”
Brian Harper | Communication ‘11 | Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Before he came to Marquette, Brian Harper didn’t know what a Jesuit was. But after playing music for campus ministry and getting to know some Jesuits along the way, Marquette’s Jesuit mission became his focus.
Now, four years later, he’s planning on spending two years working with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Andahuaylillas, Peru.
“I was really attracted to (the Marquette Jesuits’) mission and what they were all about,” Harper said. “I sort of like the idea of continuing to learn about that, but in a little bit more of an intensive way.”
Harper’s time studying abroad in South Africa also sparked his interest in doing long-term service outside the U.S.
“I like the idea of being in the culture itself, not just doing it for a couple hours and then going back home,” he said.
Once he leaves for Andahuaylillas in November, he will either teach or work for a parish. And for the two years he serves, he isn’t allowed to go home.
“For the people that we’re going to be working with, it’s not really an option for them to leave or just hop on a plane and go to the U.S. for Christmas,” Harper said. “There’s this idea of not really just working for the poor, but actually living with the poor in their situation.”
But he didn’t take his decision to join the JVC lightly.
“I think there’s probably a tendency to pursue these kind of programs more now with the economy not being that good and the job market not being as good as it can be,” Harper said. “And I think that’s fine, but I think it’s important to make sure it’s not the only reason you’re doing it. You need to make sure that you really want to be doing it.”
When he was accepted into the JVC, he was asked to take a couple days and think about it before he agreed.
“I thought in the future if I’d want to look back and say I did this,” Harper said. “And the answer was yes.”
Caroline Corcos | Arts & Sciences ‘10 | Peace Corps
Caroline Corcos, a 2010 graduate, is a Peace Corps volunteer in Azerbaijan, a country north of Iran.
Graduating with a double major in history and political science, Corcos became interested in volunteering after she studied abroad in South Africa.
“I felt a sense of fulfillment and purpose there that I really missed when I came back to the States,” she said. “(I) thought maybe I could get that from the Peace Corps.”
Since September 2010, Corcos has lived in Kechili, a small farming village of 2,000. There, she teaches English and trains teachers, helping them improve their language and learn new teaching techniques. She will complete her program in December 2012.
Corcos said when Azerbaijan was under the control of the Soviet Union, the country’s education system was very lecture oriented, and still faces repercussions today.
“Students would listen to the teacher, memorize and repeat,” she said. “This helped to really reduce the amount of critical thinking abilities in Azerbaijan.”
To help children continue to think outside of the box, Corcos teaches an art and games class in the village, and works at several camps, like GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), a Peace Corps girls leadership camp, and a youth civic leadership camp.
“I have noticed that a lot of the people I work with, especially the women, have been changing,” Corcos said.
But she has had to adapt to some change herself.
“In Azerbaijan, in public, people don’t really smile,” Corcos said. “But I’m a happy, joyful person and I laugh easily. And it’s really hard not to laugh when you see an old lady screaming madly and running after chickens with a broom!”