Bri Park, our editor at the Richmond branch of Her Campus, does so much for all of our writers. I sat down with her, intending to learn more about what her position as editor entails, but quickly learned that she does so much more around our campus then I ever could have imagined.
Bri is a sophomore majoring in Political Science and Journalism. In addition to her double major and editing position with Her Campus, she also writes for the Collegian, is a member of the Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisor Program, a member of Spiders Against Sexual Assault and Violence and is a Bonner Scholar. The Bonner program is a program through which students do 10 hours of community service per week in exchange for certain scholarship benefits. Through her involvement in the Bonner program, Bri volunteers with children at an after school program called Youth Life.
I asked Bri what her favorite activity is that she is involved in on campus. She told me, “That’s kind of hard to say… probably working at Youth Life because I’ve been there for so long and going to see my mentee and my kids is really the highlight of my week.”
The Bonner Program seems like such an amazing and impacting program, so I asked Bri about how she became involved both with the Bonner Program as a whole, as well as with Youth Life. Bri tells me that becoming involved with the Bonner program was fairly easy; she received an email before the beginning of freshman year, sent out to the entire incoming freshman class, offering the opportunity to get involved in the program. “I did a lot of service in high school and it was something I knew that I wanted to continue,” she explained.
At Bonner, she explains, there is a big emphasis on long-term commitment to one volunteer sight. At the end of freshman year, Bonner scholars pick one volunteer sight, where they continue to do service until the end of their senior year. This is how Bri became involved in the Youth Life mentoring program. At Youth Life, the volunteers each have their own child who they mentor, as well as helping the kids with their homework, playing games with them, and reading books. Bri tells me that it has been an interesting experience for her because she gets to help her mentee learn how to read and regonize letters.
I asked Bri if volunteer work or non-profit organizations are a career path that she is thinking of conniving after college. She tells me that although it is definitely something that she’s thought about, she is considering other passions as well. “I also love journalism and writing a lot, so it would be trying to involve my writing with social justice at the same time,” she said.
The volunteer work that Bri and many other UR students frequently do is extremely important and impactful. For anyone who wants to get involved, but is not sure what the first step would be, I asked how students can begin the process. The CCE (Center for Civic Engagement) is the first step, she told me. The center, located one the second floor of Tyler Haynes Commons, is very welcoming and adept at matching students’ interests with volunteer sites that and has drop in hours almost every day. The school also provides shuttles and transportation to the various sites for students who do not have a car on campus.