As part of kNOw Poverty week, the Orient is highlighting four student volunteers who dedicate themselves to effecting change in their communities.
Joy Lee '07
Senior Joy Lee did not come to Bowdoin planning to do a lot of community service. After doing service in high school, she was ready for a change. However, Lee's experiences volunteering during her Community Service Pre-Orientation trip revitalized her interest in service.
"It got me excited, and I realized I could do this at Bowdoin," Lee said.
In her four years at Bowdoin, Lee has been involved in a variety of service projects, ranging from taking service learning classes to leading an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Trip to Washington, D.C. In addition, as an intern with Community Service Resource Center (CSRC), Lee has been actively involved in coordinating events for kNOw Poverty Week.
For Lee, kNOw Poverty Week raises awareness about local community issues, particularly for those students who may not be involved in service at Bowdoin.
"Community service is self-selecting, but once people get involved, especially in ASB, you see people's perspectives change."
According to Lee, service and learning have always seemed to go hand-in-hand at Bowdoin.
"Issues in classes and service feed off from each other," she said.
For Lee, service-learning courses are mutually beneficial for students and the community because students can get real-world experience while doing something "useful for non-profit organizations."
"I think service-learning courses show that we have something offer the community," she said. "As Bowdoin students we learn how to do research, and we can do research for organizations, especially when it is incorporated into a class."
While Lee's plans for next year remain uncertain, she knows that service will continue to be an important part of her life.
"Volunteering will definitely be a part of my future wherever I am," she said.
Megan Waterman '08
After spending a semester abroad in Melbourne, Australia, working on aboriginal health issues, junior Megan Waterman returned to Bowdoin and decided to pursue her passion for public health.
Waterman has spent this semester volunteering at Oasis Health Clinic, a non-profit organization that provides medical services for uninsured and low-income residents of Midcoast Maine.
Public health combines Waterman's interests in medicine and sociology. While Waterman has always been interested in medicine, she discovered her passion for sociology at Bowdoin.
"I always thought that medicine was one of the best ways to make a difference in the world," Waterman said.
Waterman said that her experiences abroad and at Oasis have shaped her approach to sociology in the classroom.
"In class it is easy think about things only in theoretic terms. It is easy to get away from a person's actual experience." Waterman said. "When I go to Oasis and see these people who can't afford the things we take for granted, it forces the theory into practice."
"When we talk about forms of oppression in class, it is hard for me not to personally think of examples of people that I have interacted with at Oasis," she added.
After Bowdoin Waterman plans to complete a dual medical doctorate and master's in public health degree.
Ian Yaffe '09
Sophomore Ian Yaffe, director of program administration for the Campus Kitchen Task Force, has never been interested in community service. Rather, Yaffe aspires to effect change in communities.
"I do community change so as long as there is change to be made I'll always be working for that," Yaffe said.
Last year Yaffe and fellow sophomore David Falkof started the Campus Kitchen Project at Bowdoin. The two had volunteered for the Campus Kitchen Project before coming to Bowdoin. Yaffe served on the board of directors of the Campus Kitchen Project in Washington, D.C.
The Campus Kitchen Task Force currently coordinates three programs: food recovery, meal distribution, and "Taste for Change" dinners.
According to Yaffe, the food recovery program "connects existing resources with problems in the community."
"You gain an understanding of how you can turn waste into something productive," he said.
Tonight the Campus Kitchens Taskforce will sponsor its second "Taste for Change" dinner at Ladd House as part of kNOw Poverty Week. Last month's dinner raised $251 that will be added to the proceeds of the year's two remaining dinners. Proceeds from the dinners will be donated to an organization chosen by past guests at the end of the year.
For Yaffe, hunger should not be a problem.
"There is no reason for it," he said. "The world produces enough food to more than feed itself."
Willy Oppenheim '09
For sophomore Willy Oppenheim the world is his community. According to Oppenheim, volunteering provides students with the opportunity to understand and interact with their community.
"The best thing is having a bit more sense of place and not limiting your world to campus and a few coffee shops," Oppenheim said.
Oppenheim coordinates with Curtis Isacke '07 and a contingent of students who volunteer nightly at Tedford Housing's singles shelter. He is also very involved with the Omprakash Foundation, which provides material and human resources to needy schools in India and Tibet.
At Tedford's singles shelter, Bowdoin students help prepare, serve, and clean up from meals nightly.
According to Oppenheim, while some volunteers are not completely at ease when volunteering at the shelter, the experience is nonetheless rewarding.
"People get totally psyched when residents remember them or they see the residents outside of the shelter," Oppenheim said.
According to Oppenheim, the Omprakash Foundation "helps the networking process" for students looking for an opportunity to volunteer abroad. Oppenheim hopes that the organization will be able to fund students to volunteer abroad in the near future.
At Bowdoin, Oppenheim has seen service learning courses bridge the gap between the classroom and the community leading to a more fulfilling academic experience.
For example, Oppenheim said that the course Anthropology of Islands places the study of anthropology in a more practical context.
"Suddenly anthropology isn't just an abstraction, you are doing it," Oppenheim said.