<ome, Carls, to a whole new year of “Caught in the ACT,” brought to you by your friendly, neighborhood ACT Student Coordinators (SCs). In case you aren’t familiar with the ACT Center, we’re located in Sayles 150, right next to Campus Activities. Stop by, say hi, and get to know your SCs! Each week this quarter page, ever-so-nicely formatted section of The Carletonian will feature an article discussing activities, experiences or social issues related to service work both at Carleton and beyond.
So, what does service at Carleton and beyond mean? In most cases, service work at Carleton is performed within one of the thirty-five programs that are supported by the Acting in the Community Together (ACT) Center. Last year, 440 Carleton students worked a total of 9,872 service hours, engaged in activities that ranged from petting dogs and cats at the Humane Society, to passing on their passion for long division as a tutor or cleaning up the Cannon River with the Adopt-a-River program. Every ACT program works to address a certain need in the Carleton, Northfield, and occasionally, the Minneapolis-St. Paul community. Many of these programs could not exist without the enthusiastic participation of college students, and during this time of financial difficulty the efforts of volunteers are more appreciated than ever.
While it is true that many local organizations greatly benefit from the dedicated work of Carleton students, it is important to remember that volunteering isn’t just about giving – it’s also about getting something back. For some Carls, it is the pleasure of spending time with people outside of their age group. For others, it is the friendship that forms between a mentor and a mentee, or with an adopted grandparent. For still others, it is the chance to learn more about your skills and passions, or the satisfaction of putting strongly held convictions into action.
Here at Carleton, we place a high value on our sense of social justice. Whether you’re already involved in a specific volunteer program, a member of an advocacy group or are perhaps just fascinated by the discussions of wealth and privilege in your sociology class, we at the ACT Center encourage you to keep asking questions, keep exploring what these issues mean to you, and then ACT. If not now, when?
