Candace’s Story
Candace is a freshman starting her spring semester at Middle State University, a regional public four-year institution. Candace is the first person in her family to attend college, though her mother did receive a nursing certificate at a local community college when Candace was a teenager. Her first semester at Middle State University was very challenging and Candace often felt overwhelmed with the unwritten rules and expectations of college. Candace is majoring in Math so she is very focused on her heavy course load which leaves little time for campus involvement like student clubs and organizations. She works part-time at a diner near campus to pay for her living expenses which limits her time even more.
During the winter break, Candace considered not returning to MSU because she felt alone and disconnected from other students on campus. She thought she may be better suited for the community college where some of her friends enrolled after high school. After talking with her parents, though, she decided to return to campus for the spring semester in hopes she will feel like she belongs.
During Welcome Week in the fall, Candace joined Middle State First, a program in the Office of Academic Enrichment for first-generation students to help students acclimate to college and develop personal connections with other first-generation students. Middle State First offers a one-credit first year seminar which Candace has enrolled in for spring. One of the requirements of the seminar is participation in a group service-learning project. Candace’s cohort has chosen to work with a local food bank that serves community members. Candace must log at least 10 service hours at the food bank to meet the expectations of the seminar.
While Candace is at the food bank, she learns quite a bit about the community members who utilize the resources as well as the organization itself. She learns that the organization is run almost completely by volunteers who believe in the mission of the food bank. The executive director is a passionate person, but is also overwhelmed with responsibilities of running the organization, keeping the shelves full, and finding people to volunteer their time.
Candace immediately finds a need she can fill. The executive director doesn’t have anyone keeping track of donations and expenses which has turned the office into a mess. In high school, Candace learned QuickBooks to help him with his business. For some reason numbers have always just “made sense” to her which is one of the reasons she decided to major in Math. Now, Candace can use those same skills to help the director improve the current finance system for the organization.
By the end of the semester, Candace has stopped tracking her hours at the food bank (she met the 10-hour minimum long ago). As the end of the semester approaches, Candace’s outlook on college has improved dramatically. She plans to switch her major to Accounting with a minor in Nonprofit Management. She has developed several close friendships with other students in her Middle State First cohort. And the executive director of the food bank has become a mentor for her as she learns more about the nonprofit career field.