Dear New Sector Americorps

I have spent four years on leave between my junior and senior years at Stanford University in order to pay off a housing bill.  During that time, I worked through temp agencies, acquired and used a certified nursing assistant license, and held a job over a year for the first time in my life.  I also took advantage of a community program offering a complementary Clemente humanities course.  For the years I spent out of school, I learned about myself as well as what communities have to offer their residents.  I learned more about resources and opportunities from librarians and community centers than anywhere else.  When it came time for me to consider a program for my gap year between undergrad and graduate school, I knew I wanted to give back and pay forward all that had been given to me.

As a contributing member for the New Sector AmeriCorps program in either Boston or San Francisco, I look forward to spending my gap year making a difference with a corporation or institution from within.  Working side by side with people for a year I will have the chance to build experiences in an office environment as well as learn how a non-profit works.  Certainly, as with any other time I have given my time and energy for others, I know I will find myself rewarded in many unexpected and long-lasting ways.  Getting to know people at their need allows me to see people beyond superficial assumptions.  The relationships I make will do more than simply help those I work for.  I will gain insights about myself and the world around me which will contribute to bettering the woman I am becoming.  Living in a new city also seems like a wonderful way to build self-confidence, stretch my opinion of what I can do, and see a new part of my country.  Most of the people in my family have never left our hometown of San Antonio.  Every time I venture out into the world, I have more to bring back when I return.  

Once chosen for the program, I will have the chance to pool the people and soft skills I have gained from the varied positions I held over the past few years and use them all for a business that is providing its community with needed services.  I have worked several positions making phone calls for a myriad of companies, done physical labor as a certified nursing assistant and in a warehouse, and worked in a number of sales positions.  I am comfortable working with people of all ages and my definition of “working” includes doing what I am asked for, well, and then finding something else to do.  Being the oldest of four children in a single home, chores and helping out were a natural part of my life.  The work ethic my mother instilled in me carries over to each task I am given.

Though the program will take me far from my mother in Texas, I know she will continue to be proud of me as I do good with the gifts I have been blessed with.  Thank you for your time and consideration.  

Sincerely,

Shamika Goddard