Moving forward, in most issues of American Teen, we will feature an outstanding youngster who selflessly gives back to their community, or advocates for change, and is deserving of praise and acknowledgement.

Moving forward, in most issues of American Teen, we will feature an outstanding youngster who selflessly gives back to their community, or advocates for change, and is deserving of praise and acknowledgement.

Read on to learn about our Fall 2018 Outstanding Teen, Andrea, a college student who donates her time and energy by helping the people of Haiti, while advocating for community service in her own hometown.

Tell me a bit about yourself.

I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, and currently am a sophomore at the University of Colorado at Boulder, majoring in business and minoring in education. I’m a Capricorn, so naturally a workaholic, and I spend my days running around from school to work to the clubs I’m in. Painting and pottery have always been something I’ve been interested in since I was young and I love the outdoors. Traveling is also so important to me as my family lives all around the globe!

Can you give me a quick run-down of some of the community service projects you’ve participated in?

One is The Friends of Haiti, Inc. (TFOHI) I helped raise over $20,000 for this cause while in high school. TFOHI helps the people of Haiti who are poor and most at risk. We support schools in Haiti by donating school supplies, and by offering tuition assistance for some students, specifically for the school for Nurses and Doctors. Haiti is in need of professional medical people to assist in providing quality healthcare and we can think of no better area to find these professionals than in the country of Haiti itself! Therefore, we have sought to create a means to help encourage the people of Haiti to not only gain much needed education, but also for these educated Haitians to then give something back to their own country.

Why do you feel that philanthropy-giving back-is so important?

“Giving back” is kind of a two-sided term. We constantly think about giving back as “us helping them”; that sort of experience. But the way I like to see it is that we’re helping each other. Sure, the way in which we each benefit is going to be different, but when I give back to my community, I’m also getting the benefit because I’ve been able to grow from this opportunity, I’ve met new people that I can add to my network, I’ve perhaps learned a new skill or something that I didn’t know before, and maybe I’ve even gained a new perspective on something. I’m a strong believer that we need to create the world we want to live in. The world I want to live in is where people do good things when no one is watching because it’s just the right thing to do, where we help one another in hopes that one day we will get that same help reciprocated back to us. That’s why giving back is important.

What was your first community service project and what prompted you to do it?

in high school I became part of my Red Cross. We went around to local elementary schools and taught kids about disaster awareness. This was right after the Boulder Flood, so there was a sense of awareness in terms of disaster preparedness. We basically followed the Red Cross program and got to come up with some games and creative ways to talk about what ‘disaster preparedness’ meant in different places. Then at the schools we would meet up with kids during their PE classes and do our hour long presentation. It was really hands-on, and kids loved it. The reason we did this was like I said, the Boulder Flood had just happened and there were a lot of people in my community who were left with nothing. I felt like there was a need to educate people on how to prepare for things like this, and we did just that

Has your source of inspiration for serving the community changed since that first project?

Absolutely. I used to think that volunteering and serving the community was an “us helping them” sort of thing. And it wasn’t until I read an article by Naomi Remen called Helping, Fixing, Serving that I realized that we aren’t really helping anyone or trying to fix anyone. We’re serving one another and that’s really how it should be. When I go into a community service event I always remind myself that we’re all humans and sometimes we need a little more help. This is absolutely prevalent when I volunteer at the shelter for the homeless— just because someone is staying there doesn’t mean that they need to be fixed or that they’re any less of a person than I am. In fact, I feel lucky that I can serve adults in my community who might need a hand up.

What is JUMP?

The Junior Unity Mentoring Program (JUMP) is an organization I started in high school that would work with bilingual/low-income students in Boulder Valley elementary and middle schools. We would meet between one and three times a week and have 30 minutes for homework/tutor time and 30 minutes to get to know the high school mentors. Students would be paired with a handful of high school mentors to look up to and get the support they need.

What was your favorite community service project?

Starting JUMP, which really was a huge learning experience for me. The whole purpose was that I realized that many students in Boulder Valley schools who didn’t have an English-speaking parent at home might struggle a bit more in school, or low- income students often had parents who were never home and might not get the support and mentorship they need. I thought that connecting these students with various high school students throughout Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) would be great because it’s a student-to-student connection and more of a partnership than a “teacher” position. I did this for 3 years and when I graduated was able to pass the program off to another high school student to continue.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned in all of your experience with community service?

Be really aware of where you’re volunteering, and why. Choose where you volunteer carefully and make sure that your personal values coincide with the organization or service you’re doing.

What was your favorite community service moment?

When I was in Mexico a few years ago I gave a presentation to a rural community about the importance of education, but more specifically, education for women and the benefits it had. A moment that really stuck me was after my presentation I had a family come up to me and thank me for my time, and that what I said about education and poverty really struck with them.

How would your life and values be different if you never got yourself involved in giving back to the community?

I think that if I hadn’t gotten into giving back to the community I wouldn’t be who I am today. I certainly wouldn’t be doing as well in school and I think I’d be a lot more self-centered. Like I said earlier, giving back to the community, while we are serving a particular group...I find the personal benefit to be immense and a true learning opportunity for everyone involved. Through giving back to the community, I’ve learned to look at the ‘bigger picture’ and see the world through different ‘lenses.’

What advice do you have for teens who want to be more socially involved with their community, but don’t know where to start?

As cliché as it may sound, just start somewhere. We all know the saying that we alone can change the world for one person— truthfully, we alone can change the world for one minute. Do good, because it’s the right thing to do. Look into your school to find school service clubs, if your school has none reach out to your local Rotary Club and start an Interact Club (a service- based club designed for middle and high schools), reach out to your local Red Cross or community center. There are thousands of opportunities at your fingertips, it’s just a matter of reaching out. We alone as individuals certainly cannot move a mountain alone, but we as individuals can make little changes and “push pebbles”, and at the end of the day, if enough people push enough pebbles, a mountain can move. Change doesn’t happen alone, in fact, we live in a world where change and activism is so rich and I’m so excited to see the change this next generation can start to make. Create the world you want to live in.

The Friends of Haiti, Inc. (TFOHI) I helped raise over $20,000 for this cause