Graduating college is a very exciting and yet a kind of scary time in life. It is exciting to be moving forward with your life and starting a career, but what happens when you have no job and no real prospects? Well, the greatest year, and now year-and-a-half of my life, have happened. I am an AmeriCorps VISTA member with Up2Us Sports working for Algonquin Sports for Kids and the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County.

I have lived a blessed life and am very grateful for the things I have, and it is an incredible feeling being able to go to work everyday and get to do work that is bigger than yourself. We give kids a chance to play sports every day. Sports have had a huge impact on my life, which even led me into majoring in sport management. Sports have also taught me how to face adversity, teamwork, leadership, and has given me some of the best friendships of my life. Being part of an organization that gives that opportunity to kids is incredible, and not only are we teaching them sports, but we are teaching them healthy lifestyles and habits.

AmeriCorps is usually a 1-year term, but I was having way too much fun and was loving the work that we do that I had to give it one more year. The AmeriCorps program started off as just a buffer between college and maybe grad school, but now, I am going to be leaving with a great network of people and some very valuable work experience. My dream is still to work in professional sports, and because of this program, I want to work in community relations and continue to do great work for underserved communities and that’s all thanks to the AmeriCorps VISTA program.