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Student balances service, school |
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Thursday, 08 March 2007 |
 | Bouchard
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300 service hours create new opportunities
by REBECCA GARDNER
Lifestyles Reporter
Community service: 300 hours of your time.
An educational scholarship: $1,000.
An opportunity to make a change in the lives of others: priceless.
Matthew
J. Bouchard, a junior Spanish and anthropology double major, works at
the Farm Workers Health Program at the Watauga Medical Center for the
Appalachian State University North Carolina-Activating Citizenship
Through Service program (NC-ACTS).
“The other day at camp, I
was giving a music therapy session, teaching [English as a Second
Language], when one of the immigrants said to me [in Spanish], ‘When I
came to the U.S. I didn’t think I’d meet anyone as nice as you,”’
Bouchard said.
The immigrant made Bouchard realize that not a lot of people are reaching out in this community, he said.
The NC-ACTS program is an opportunity for students to work with one
non-profit agency over one academic school year. The students receive
an educational scholarship after completing their service hours.
“As key volunteers, the NC-ACTS students are first educated about the
social issues their agency faces, then in turn educate others about
those social issues, acting as part of the solution,” according
to the ACT Web site.
This is Bouchard’s first year with the NC-ACTS program and there are 22 other active members.
“I originally worked with [the Farm Labor Organizing Committee], and my
buddy told me that this program was a way to work and get an
educational award,” Bouchard said.
Todd A. Mortensen is in charge of the NC-ACTS program at Appalachian
State University. There are bi-weekly Thursday meetings for the
students throughout the school year.
Bouchard’s responsibilities for the organization vary.
Bouchard is an “Outreach Worker” and his job entails going out at
nights and giving free health assessments, which include blood
pressure, blood sugar, height and weight measurements. Bouchard
performs these tests himself.
“Health is invaluable, so I just help to provide positive directions to keep them alive,” Bouchard said.
“This even sparked an interest in medicine.”
Other responsibilities include first-aid education and other
educational topics. For example, “if someone had high blood sugar, I
would help them change their diet,” Bouchard said.
Bouchard is currently taking 15 semester hours of school work, so like
the other NC-ACTS students, juggling 300 hours of community service is
hard.
“I thought that if I can commit to 10 hours a week, then I can do it,” Bouchard said. “It’s like a part-time job.”
Prioritizing is also a big part of juggling school and NC-ACTS, Bouchard said.
“Right now I am taking the classes that I need to take and should have taken freshman year,”
Bouchard said.
Bouchard’s current project is Latino Health and Culture, which will try
to provide access to people who they couldn’t serve, testing things
such as HIV and cholesterol.
This project will be held in Avery County April 27 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“So far, I have learned that there is a huge segment of our population
that’s completely ignored and don’t have voices, and it is like their
wants and needs don’t enter our mainstream problem,” Bouchard said.
“For example, immigration is more complex than it seems, and it is like
there is power in inequality.”
The Latino Health and Culture Fair is Bouchard’s long-term goal.
“It’s also a call for student action,” Bouchard said. “We really want
to get kids who can speak Spanish and compiling an ESL curriculum and
send them out to different camps to keep the immigrants company and
teach them English.”
SCHEDULE:
Monday:
8 a.m.- Go running
10 a.m. - Noon: Biology Lab
1-3 p.m. – Homework
3-5 p.m.- Math
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.- Higher Ground
Tuesday:
9:30-11 a.m- Biology
11:30 am- 2 p.m.- ‘Put Out the Vibe’ at the Coffee Shop
2p.m.- 5p.m.- Spanish Phonetics & Diction/ Advanced Conversation
5:30-9 p.m.- Outreach/ Music Therapy/ ESL
Wednesday:
8a.m.-2:45 p.m.- Office Hours at Medical Center
(set up appointments, planning, research- Health and Spanish)
3 p.m.- 5p.m.- Math
5 p.m.- 7 p.m. – Running or Swimming
7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.- Higher Ground
Thursday:
9:30-11 a.m- Biology
11:30 am- 2 p.m.- ‘Put Out the Vibe’ at the Coffee Shop
2p.m.- 5p.m.- 2 Spanish Phonetics & Diction/ Advanced Conversation
5:30-9 p.m.- Outreach/ Music Therapy/ ESL
Friday:
This is usually an open day for appointments and translation
5-7 p.m.- Scuba class
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Good job talk to you soon. Love Uncle Jim and Aunt Debbie
