Organizations Present Opportunities for Gap Year

The panelists give students information about their
organization (from left to right Jennifer Rodriguez,
Brendan Cavanagh, Melissa Cano and Sarah Ramos)
Photo by Katie Ramirez 

By Carlos Ealy

Representatives from several well-known organizations met with Trinity students to talk about potential gap year opportunities on Friday at the Coates University Center.

City Year, Peace Corps, Teach for America, and TU College Advising Corps joined the Gap Year Service Panel, sponsored by Trinity’s Center for Experiential Learning & Career Success and Trinity University Volunteer Action Community, as part of the Lunch and Learn series.

These organizations provide community service opportunities for students who what to take a gap year, or a year off from school to do something else. About 20 students attended the meeting.

Teach for America is an organization that recruits recent college graduates or someone who wants a career change and can commit to teach full time for two years at low income schools. Jennifer Rodriguez from the organization said it is not okay that not many students have access to an excellent education. It makes her passionate and proud to be an educator because “you see where your students go in the long term.”

For students looking to spend some time overseas, Peace Corps might be a good choice. They send skilled Americans to various developing countries for 27 months to help improve local education, health, agriculture and other areas. According to Peace Corps representative Brendan Cavanagh, their volunteers “want to go and save the world,” but it is challenging for them to leave home for so long and return not knowing if their work and effort is still being used.

City Year is an organization dedicated to help young people who are off-track or did not finish high school. They provide a safe space for students to do their homework and organize weekend service projects like painting murals or graffiti wipe-out. Melissa Canon of City Year believes that all City Year volunteers wake up every morning and “put on the uniform because it represents something that people in the community appreciate.”

The fourth organization at the panel, TU College Advising Corps, is housed in the Department of Education at Trinity University. It helps high school students to apply to colleges through workshops.

Sarah Ramos, who represented the organization, said in a typical high school, students only talk to their college advisers for a total of 20 minutes on average. Her organization tries to spend more time talking about preparing for college with high school students. A strong candidate for them, Ramos said, is someone willing to serve the community and make an impact on the students.

Three other Lunch and Learn meetings will be held throughout April on every Friday from 12:30-1:20. The next meeting, “You Want Me to Do What? Course Projects and the ‘Real World,’” will be held in CSI 337.