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Inspiring Students

Volunteering plays important role in student’s hectic life

By Jennifer Richter, CSB ‘10

College students always find themselves busy. With so many things consuming their time — school, work, sports, activities, friends — it is hard to find room to fit anything else in. But Judy Falvey, a College of Saint Benedict junior from Lakeville, Minn., somehow manages to do all that and a whole lot more.

Judy is no ordinary student. She is double majoring in psychology and biology, as well as being a part of the pre-medical program. She works in the math department and tutors high school students. She is a forward on the basketball team. And, on top of everything else, she volunteers with VISTO.

Volunteers In Service To Others (VISTO) is a program at CSB/Saint John’s University that encourages students to serve the needs of others. Twenty volunteer programs are offered, providing a link between the campuses and neighboring communities. VISTO also gives students the opportunity to interact with people of different backgrounds and explore possible career paths.

Through VISTO Judy volunteers with Anna Marie’s, a shelter providing safety and advocacy services for battered women and their children in nearby St. Cloud.

“Basically what I am is a child mentor,” she said. “I baby sit for the younger kids and work with the older kids.”

However, this volunteer position has a lot more to it than just that.

“Some of the specific things I do include taking care of the babies and playing with the little kids,” she said, “But the other volunteers and I are also setting up some programming and activities for the teenagers because they get ignored a lot of the time, and they feel really constrained in the women’s shelter.”

Judy chose to volunteer at Anna Marie’s for many reasons.

“I have always really wanted to help women,” she said. “I think it’s really important.”

Volunteering has always been an essential part of Judy’s life.

“My parents always stressed the need to give back to the community,” she said. “And it’s a good thing to do.”

This belief has truly impacted Judy. Volunteering has been a part of her life long before this experience through VISTO.

“In high school, I was in National Honor Society,” she said. “And I also was really involved doing basketball youth camp and clinics.”

Last year, Judy had a very rewarding experience as a tutor-mentor for the Fast Forward Youth Program, another volunteer opportunity offered for CSB/SJU students. The goal of this program is to help Latino/a students at area junior and senior high schools become successful individuals as well as learn about post-secondary educational opportunities.

Judy volunteered at Willmar Junior High School and helped students with homework, supporting them to do well in school and go onto higher education.

“Just seeing them come in each week with more of an interest and actually wanting to get their work done was cool,” she said. “Before, no one had encouraged them to succeed, so they didn’t have any desire to. But, by the end, they actually had some hope that they could do well in school and go to college.”

And, for Judy, that was the best part of the experience.

“That was the most rewarding, seeing that progression and feeling like you had something to do with it,” she said.

Judy’s volunteering has not only affected her personally, but it has also provided a connection to her time on the basketball court.

“Basketball challenges you on a daily basis, so you have to learn how to adapt to that,” she said. “And I think that’s the same with a lot of your volunteer experiences. You have to learn to be fully invested in what you’re doing. In basketball, you have to be present in the moment, and the same thing is true when you’re helping with kids. You have to be there.”

Judy loves what she’s doing and that is a good thing because otherwise volunteering and basketball mixed in with homework, labs, work, her senior thesis project, and her social life might overwhelm her.

“I love to be busy,” she said. “It’s how I thrive. And everything I’m doing is really interesting to me. The volunteer work is important. The research is awesome. Obviously, it gets crazy, especially with basketball, but it’s all things that I like.”

And that is important for Judy. She is extremely busy, but manages to do it all because she values it all. She may lead a hectic life, but she recognizes that is how college is. And volunteering has helped her realize that fact.