Community service at Yale

One (of the many) reasons I chose to come to Yale because everyone I met seemed to genuinely want to make the world a better place (not just to fulfill high school/NHS requirements or in the Miss Congeniality sense of answering "World peace" to every question). Over 80% of students participate in some form of community service during their time at Yale, and we have the largest student-run service umbrella organization in the country: Dwight Hall, which is right on Old Campus.

There's a little something for everyone at Dwight Hall...if you're interested in
- Science/Math? Try Synergy, DEMOS, Mathcounts, or SMArt!
- Debate? Try the Urban Debate League!
- Medicine/Public Health? Try ARCY (American Red Cross at Yale), CT Hospice, or the Yale Public Health Coalition!
- Arts/music? Try Instrumental Connection, Splatter, or Yale Children's Theater!
- Going abroad? Try AISEC or Reach Out!
- Social justice? Try Amnesty International, YHHAP, or the Social Justice Network!
- Literature? Try Summer Buds!
- Teaching English? Try BOLD or Bridges!
- Working with kids? Join PALS/become a public school intern or early childhood education fellow"!
- Saving the environment? Try YSEC, or become a STEP coordinator!
- Finance? Become a Dwight Hall Management fellow!

What makes Yale even more amazing? You don't have to be part of any of these groups to participate in service!

Believe it or not, it's true - many other groups include some sort of community service component. A couple examples from my own activities:

1) Once a semester, CASA and TAS partner up to run CASPY, where adopted Chinese kids from the New England area all come to Yale for a day of cultural activities, good food, and even a Talent Show. Their parents get a chance to talk to other parents who have gone through similar experiences, which is always helpful for swapping advice and such. Yalies can be Big Sibs (get paired with a couple kids and take them everywhere for the day) or be some of the people organizing the activities, both of which are vital roles.

The dance workshop I ran at CASPY a couple years ago

2) Today, YSC is having a barbeque out on the New Haven Green - it's there specifically to serve New Haven residents, especially the homeless, rather than having it out on Old Campus where it would mostly be Yalies. We're also handing out bags of food and basic toiletries - we made them assembly-line style after Real Life on Thursday =P

3) In April, there's this program called Science Saturdays, when families come to hear cool lectures from professors on everything from nanoparticles and the physics of golf to viruses and butterfly eyespots. The YSM staff usually goes out to help run the fun science demos out in the hallway to keep the kids amused before/after the lectures.

4) Just yesterday, a couple of us from Phoenix went to Columbus Family Academy. The students are mainly Hispanic, but several of the classes have been studying China, even corresponding with Chinese penpals and taking a field trip to Chinatown in New York. After we performed, we did a mini-workshop to demonstrate more props and let the students try dancing with them. It really put everything in perspective...I had forgotten how super-enthusiastic elementary school kids can be!

My ribbon solo

Posing with umbrellas - even the boys!

Whee, ribbons!

So, as you can see, there are ample opportunities for Yalies to give back to the community...and have lots of fun doing it!