Careers in service
The theme of public service that President Anthony W. Marx introduced
in his Inauguration speech seems to be catching on, as large numbers of students
crowded into the Keefe Campus Center for the March Not-For-Profit Fair. This
year’s
career fair featured a record-setting number of participants, with more than
30 nonprofit organizations and government agencies sending representatives. Students
had choices that ranged from Outward Bound to Upward Bound, from the Peace Corps
to Peacemaker Circle International. Those who were interested in education could
choose from organizations like the Summer Institute for the Gifted, Teach
for America and World Teach. Those who lean toward environmental issues could
talk with people from the Student Conservation Association and the Public Interest
Research Groups. According to Rosalind Hoffa, associate dean of students and
the director of the Career Center, this year also marked the first time that
government agencies like the U.S. Department of State and Sen. John Kerry’s
office participated. For Ezekiah Phillips ’05, the government agencies
were of special interest. “Particularly in the election year,” he
said, “the more political organizations—the Beat Bush organization
and Senator Kerry’s
organization—caught my eye.” Phillips said he came to the fair because
his experience with the National Coalition for the Homeless through this year’s
Winternship program whetted his appetite for meaningful work. He hopes to be
involved with political organizations this summer, and he says that he is considering
joining the Peace Corps after graduation.
Tarik Carter ’04 came to the fair to look into teaching opportunities and
found
himself most attracted to an organization called World Teach. A Spanish major,
he applied for a World Teach program in Ecuador, and he is also looking at programs
in the Marshall Islands, Chile and Costa Rica. His immediate plan is to work
with the program for one year before
graduate school, but he says he might “do another year, or even two or
three years. I might make it a career. You never know.”
Pamela Krupman-Allyn ’84, who founded the Books for Boys program at Children’s
Village (see "Book
Balm") concluded the fair with a talk
titled “Dream Big, Dream Real: Turn Your Passions into Programs That Can
Truly Change Lives.” Outlining her experience in establishing a nonprofit
organization, she demonstrated what is possible when passion and determination
are combined. Sounding the theme of the fair as a whole, she suggested that students
ask themselves, “‘How do I balance what I ought to do with what I
want to do?’ If today were it,
if the world ended tomorrow,” she said, “what would you do [with
your life]?”
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