This week's blog question asks something to the following effect: What are you prepared to do to make Bonner more effective? Unfortunately, as I am graduating in May of this year, I will not be able to be 'directly' involved at the university level. My hope is that, over the four years I've been at Stetson, I've helped play a small role in laying the groundwork for a bigger, better, stronger, and more dynamic program. Bonner has taken over Stetson as the 'sexy' service organization (see, for example, two or three years ago when we cleaned up at the spring service awards). But we've also established Bonner as a credible, reliable, and good community partner--with the agencies we partner with and the communities of DeLand, Spring Hill, and Pierson.
So back to the question at hand: what can I do? Though I will not be here at Stetson and an active part of the Bonner program, I feel that I can participate in the broader alumni network to provide advice, assistance, guidance, and leadership to current members of the Bonner program. Additionally, as I have shared with many of you, I'm officially running for the Iowa House of Representatives. One of my chief priorities in the legislature is to develop a community service incentive program by which high school students complete X hours with a participating community partner and in return the state provides a scholarship, loan reducation, or other tuition assistance of Y dollars. This is just one way that I can take what I've learned at Stetson and export it to the real world and my community.
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