Volunteer
Lauren
Lauren's
Story
"I’ve been at Chadwick since kindergarten. I love how many opportunities I get to learn outside the classroom. Experiential learning is such a prevalent thing on campus. There are so many opportunities to learn through service, studying abroad and joining clubs like Peer Mentors. I’ve been able to meet a lot of interesting people and learn more about myself and this community.
I started my community service in the Village School cooking and serving meals and tutoring kids. Freshman year I really fell in love with it. I was a teacher’s assistant for a kindergarten class once a week for three years. I joined the Community Service Advisory Board, where you organize the events and get the community excited about them. CSAB gives me the opportunity to go to things I wouldn’t do normally, like soup kitchens on weekends. I tutored Middle School students to build academic skills and good habits for high school. Junior year, I helped build, clean and restore houses for low-income families with Habitat for Humanity.
With community service, you go in thinking you’re supposed to change other people’s lives, but they impact yours in ways that are unimaginable. You learn about communities that are so different but only 10 minutes away. You share in the similarities. You connect with people from other backgrounds, which is the most incredible thing.
What’s great about Chadwick is how small and close-knit the community is. And the attention you get from teachers: at other schools, classes have 40 people. Here, 20 is the max. It makes a huge difference in my learning. You build relationships with teachers. You have someone to talk to if you have a personal problem — another adult figure in your life."
Chad Detloff Advisor
On Lauren
"Lauren found early that service was something she wanted to dedicate herself to. She joined the Community Service Advisory Board her sophomore year and has used that as her north star. Yes, she’s highly successful in her academic career and remarkable in terms of her ability to have committed, meaningful friendships. She also enjoys conversations with adults. All of that humanness about her and her mature, adult skills lend themselves appropriately to service. When she talks about service, she talks about the people at her service sites like her friends and family.
As a leader, I think she doubted herself at points in the process and questioned if this was the right commitment to make at times. But she kept coming back to this true commitment inside herself. That’s more valuable than anything else she’s doing. She’s a committed leader. A lot of students spread too thin. Lauren is a stalwart who dedicates everything. She’ll have 3-5 service-related things she’s working on at any given time.
A lot of our kids are privileged in so many ways. We get excited about teaching them to be better people. Lauren has acknowledged the opportunities she’s been given and the privilege she has. Her commitment to service is one way she’s making the most of that. She understands that it’s a lifestyle — a commitment. She’s stood out in my career as a student who genuinely cares about me as a person. As her advisor over the last two years, she’s been a wonderful person to talk to. She believes everybody is worth getting to know."