A little background...

I felt like it would be fitting to share a little bit about where my passion for service to my community came from.

In 7th grade, my homeroom decided to Adopt a Family. We had a great experience, and I still remember delivering the items we had collected to the family we adopted. We had even gotten them a Christmas tree. It was a great experience and taught me a lot about the real world and how not everyone was as well off as my family.

In high school, I volunteered here and there for National Honor Society, but never really connected to much outside of school. As a musician in the band and orchestra, I honestly didn't have much time for other projects.

I think most people can relate to trying to find your place in college. I did a lot of that - checked out the student organization day, went to different meetings and met new people. Throughout my four years at U of M, I participated in multiple service groups including K-Grams (a program that has college students be penpals with elementary school students), Alternative Spring Break, Alternative Weekends, and Dance Marathon. I was in a pre-law fraternity where service was one of the components. I wanted to experience it all, and all of these opportunities gave me the chance to.

I was so happy to find the Jaycees making a difference in local communities across the state and country. I was hooked on helping my community and this was the perfect outlet - not only do our members help their local communities, but for them to get involved by planning projects. The Community area reinforces the overall goal of the Jaycees as a leadership development organization. By planning projects that make our communities better, we are the next generation of leaders. We have the opportunity to show everyone what kind of impact we will make for years to come.

Since then, I've chaired and co-chaired projects, been on committees and held various offices in the Jaycees. I've participated on many levels - but the community aspect of our organization is what got me involved. We need to use that strength of our organization to train the next generation of young leaders.

I ask you to join me in helping continue the rich tradition of the Michigan Jaycees.