Our Team | bucsc1819

MEET OUR TEAM

The Community Service Center operates with the help of undergraduate student Program Managers, two Graduate Interns, and our professional staff. We asked them a variety of questions to illustrate their unique perspectives.

Stephanie Tavares,

Afterschool

Most of us are not native to Boston -- we are visitors -- and one of the great things about the CSC is that we push people to go out into Boston, and interact with people in the community who are change makers.

Francesca Sotomayor,

Afterschool

We can grow in our community engagement by supporting and engaging with local community businesses.

Ruyu Yan,

Empowerment

League

It serves as a mediator between students and the real life outside of school. It offers students a way to get involved and find a group of people who share the same passion.

Melissa Inge,

Community Partnerships & Events

I think our community can commit to listening more. Through this, we can create more intentional and effective community engagement.

Ana Paula Gushken,

Empowerment League

A place like the Community Service Center is important on campus because it encourages us students to get out of our comfort zone, learn about the neighborhoods around BU, and reflect more on our actions and impact,.

Hannah Sabitoni,

Development & Alumni Relations

I am constantly inspired by the drive, passion, and diligence of the students and faculty here.

Catrin Trudgill,

Public Relations

I am very proud of my work to create and run the first CSC Absentee Voter Drive this year.

Natalia Szeremeta,

Student Food Rescue

My favorite memory from this year is the panel discussion on food waste that I organized. It was really thrilling to see some of the people involved in food justice in Boston come together.

Emma Parkinson,

Storytelling

The CSC is a place for students to expand their understanding of community engagement and of themselves. I like to think our space is one that supports growth of all kinds.

Kristal Castro,

Alternative Service Breaks

I am constantly learning about social justice issues that include me and others in the narrative and that's something really special that this space provides for myself and other students on campus.

Nikita Varman,

Alternative Service Breaks

Community engagement is essential to foster relationships between individuals and garner a sense of responsibility to bettering the world. It creates space for empathy and growth as a human being.

Olivia Rosenburg, Empowerment League

The CSC helps students to not just say "I go to BU" but "I live in Boston" and genuinely feel like they belong in this city.

Brice Hounshel,

Education, Reflection & Events

Something I've done this year in the CSC that I am proud of was creating the new volunteer orientation program. This allowed me to explore the relationships between volunteers, community partners, and the communities they serve.

Biagio DeSimone,

Transportation & Logistics

I really loved when the Program Managers went apple picking. I think this was our first real bonding experience outside of the office and helped us grow stronger and closer as a team.

Hanna Gootée,

Siblings

Community Engagement is one of the ways that we get to choose what happens in our society. It's one of the few ways we can begin to have our voices heard.

Andrew Garcia,

Siblings

We exist in a space that doesn’t expose us to the vast majority of people’s experiences but community engagement can bridge that gap for us all.

Max Crossan,

Campus Partnerships & Events

I am proud of overseeing the annual Holiday Drive. This year we partnered with Mather Elementary in Dorchester and collected over 200 supplies for students and teachers.

Sydney Collier,

Empowerment League

I'm proud that I was able to start up volunteering programs with two Community Partners that we hadn't worked with in the past.

Kelsea Monette,

Student Food Rescue

I have come to know myself and my community on a level that would have been unreachable without engagement through the CSC.

Julia Martorell,

First-Year Student Outreach Project

Communities are built on stories and experiences, and we all belong to a community or a combination of communities that have given us so much.

Meghan Volcey,

First-Year Student

Outreach Project

Humans are inherently social creatures who are looking for ways to be pro-social and one of the best ways to accomplish that, to me, is community engagement.

Gabby Florio,

First-Year Student

Outreach Project

The Community Service Center challenges students to maximize the space that is Boston and turn it into a tangible place.

Community engagement is an important way to extend learning beyond the classroom and find ways to create a meaningful career focused on helping others.

Community engagement allows one to interact with one's surroundings in more than just a superficial manner, and to understand and embrace the unique qualities and individuality of its people.

Kirsten Kuhn,

Graduate Intern

Through this space, we learn how to be critically engaged neighbors, support the existing capacities and strengths of our partners, and facilitate personal and community transformation through experiences in education, service, reflection, and leadership.

Caroline Kohler,

Undergraduate Intern

Umme Hani Babrawala, Graduate Intern

Zachary Hobbs,

Director

What I hope you can see from the stories and quotes throughout this report is that the CSC, often without receiving much credit for it, has become a home and family for hundreds of students during their BU experience.

Orpheo Speer,

Assistant Director

While Boston holds lots of US History here, it's become a place of progress and education. What inspires me, is that within this special place, highly intelligent change leaders emerge. Boston University is at the forefront of such leaders that ask tough questions and look to meet the needs of each community.