On any given day, Taylor Cutcliff wakes up as the sun is rising, and pulls on her shin guards, knee high socks and cleats as she runs out the door to soccer practice. However, this week she straps on a tool belt, tightens her steel-toe work boots and puts on a hard hat before arriving at her worksite.
Cutcliff is a student-athlete at Seton Hall University where she is a leader on the soccer team and in the Habitat for Humanity Club.
“It is definitely time consuming with the demands of both, but they are so different from each other,” says Cutcliff. “When I am in school and playing a sport, I am working and focused. When I volunteer for other people, it more feels like a break from the normal workload.”
She holds a position on the Collegiate Challenge Chair for Habitat for Humanity. She was influential in deciding to take the team to Tacoma, Washington, during Spring Break.
Her worksite had seven houses working with Habitat. Each house was at a different stage in the building process.
“Some houses just had the wood foundation, but other houses had Habitat Owners moving into them next week,” says Cutcliff. “This meant we were doing everything from building the actual house, scaffolding, siding and working to clean up inside of the homes.”
She was introduced to Habitat for Humanity while attending the campus Involvement Fair. Her friend convinced her to attend meetings and get involved locally around town. She has been a member of the club since freshman year.
Cutcliff became involved with charities through the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership where she volunteered at different events like food drives and soup kitchens. The group required that each member log 100 volunteer hours per year.
“I enjoy giving my time because it makes me feel like I am helping to make a difference in the world,” says Cutcliff. “I know that I can’t completely change the world and solve all of its problems, but helping just one person may inspire others to do the same.”
The student-athlete wants to continue her services with the organization after she graduates because of the “easy accessibility and low time commitment.” She says it has been her favorite volunteering experience.
Being able to volunteer gives her a “sense of community” because it allows her to “connect with others on a more personal level.”
Cutcliff wants others to be more involved volunteers lending helpful hands.
She believes her service hours have allowed her to become a better teammate. She is able to bond with the athletic community over something non-sports related. “Volunteering show me how fortunate I am to be able to play a sport in college,” says Cutcliff. “It sounds silly but they push me to give it my all every day, and not waste the opportunity I’ve been given.”
On the field, the student-athlete sees game-time action including many starts. In the classroom, she receives a high, if not perfect, GPA.
Besides how to use a sledgehammer and laying floors she has learned that “by being in environments with people who are so different than myself, I have learned so much about other cultures, other views of the world, and how the smallest commonality can bond two completely different people.”