Who Invests In The Career Starters?
AmeriCorps invested in a twenty-something when no one else would
The Year That Launched My Career: Why AmeriCorps Still Matters
It was May 2010, just weeks before graduation, and like many other 22-year-olds in the wake of the recession, I was desperately searching for a job—any job. I even considered working for a local jeweler near my hometown, run by a Mafia-esque boss with a penchant for hiring very young women. That’s how uncertain the path ahead felt.
Idealistic and drawn to education and vocation policy, I was passionate about making the road to opportunity less obstructed—but I had no idea how to begin. When I stumbled upon a job posting from the University of Nevada that required only a college degree and no experience, I assumed it was a scam. But it wasn’t. It was an AmeriCorps VISTA position sponsored by Nevada Volunteers, placing a volunteer coordinator within the University’s Honors Program. The idea was simple but powerful: connect high-achieving students with meaningful service opportunities and redefine what it means to be “well-rounded.”
At the time, AmeriCorps conjured images of disaster relief, trail building, and tutoring in underserved communities. I wasn’t exactly looking to be a hero—I was looking to build skills and launch a career. After several interviews, I got the job. It paid less than $1,000 a month—most of which went toward my student loans.
During that year, I built partnerships with 50 community nonprofits, interviewed freshmen to match them with service opportunities aligned with their strengths, wrote grants to fund student art showcases on local issues and taught a freshman seminar on service learning. At the end of the year, I was named AmeriCorps VISTA of the Year. I also received admission offers from the University of Chicago and the Austrian Fulbright Program. I chose the latter and used my AmeriCorps stipend to continue paying down my loans while abroad.
To dismantle it now is to cut off the very limb that feeds the country’s future
And I like to think I paid it forward. I built a program that mobilized college freshmen to contribute over 5,000 hours of community service. I mentored students, encouraging them to prioritize impact over income. And I laid the foundation for a career in education and career development. Since then, I’ve launched a national college and career counseling service, published a book, and built a life as a wife and parent.
That’s what AmeriCorps makes possible. It’s a national investment in young people when few others are willing to invest. To dismantle it now is to cut off the very limb that feeds the country’s future, but that is exactly what is happening. The loss wouldn’t just fall on our 20-somethings—it would be felt across every community they might have served and every industry they may have enhanced.
The truth is, there aren’t many institutions—public or private—willing to take a chance on a 22-year-old. AmeriCorps did. They gave me responsibility beyond my résumé and trusted me to lead. That one year changed the trajectory of my life.
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