Tell us about yourself. My name is Hannah Voyles. I am a senior this year at Missouri State and I will be graduating in December with my B.S. in Public Relations with a minor in Spanish. The question “where are you from?” is always a tricky one for me as I identify as a ‘third-culture kid’ (TCK). This means that I spent a significant amount of time in a place that differed from my parents’ culture. I often say that my home is both nowhere and everywhere. I think this contributes to a major part of who I am because I feel that the experience of being a TCK gives me a very unique perspective on how I view and interact with my world. I have loved my life living in different states, regions, and countries and am so grateful for the way it shaped me into who I am and who I continuously grow to be.
I have two siblings that are extremely important to me. In a world where friends come and go, I always had the best ones right by my side.
Here at Missouri State, I get to spend a lot of time on campus learning and working with my skills and values! I am president of the Bear Service Team (BST), which is the volunteer club we have on campus. Our organization is an opportunity for students to get connected with non-profits in the Springfield community and find places where they can learn more about our city while getting service hours! I can combine my passions for communication and service through this position and organization.
After graduation, I want to spend some time visiting family and friends and traveling around the U.S.! In the summer of 2019 I plan on joining the Peace Corps. I want to take some time between finishing school and starting my service to have fun and learn outside of the classroom.
2) You are a part of Bears Service Team. Can you tell us about this organization, how y’all help in the community and how a student can get involved? The mission of Bear Service Team is to plan and promote service opportunities to Missouri State students. We come together and go into the community and serve every week! Some places that we go are Convoy of Hope, Rare Breed, Foster Adopt Connect, and more. Whenever we go to a partner, we normally take a tour around the building and learn about who they are, what they do, and what their goals are. We serve for at least two hours each week and do whatever the organization needs from us!
Most of the time we clean or organize clothes. While this may seem insignificant in the moment, it is important to look at the big picture and understand that our role is a stepping stone on the path to giving back. We have so many incredible people in Springfield who work every day to serve and help others. BST helps make their lives a little easier which helps them with their bigger goals of changing lives.
I think Bear Service Team is great because the volunteer opportunities are provided to you and you get to go with a group! Having to navigate service alone can be overwhelming and intimidating. We want everyone to be excited and confident about helping their community! The best way to get involved with the Bear Service Team is through emailing me at voyles125@live.missouristate.edu, following us on Twitter at @bearserviceteam, or visiting the Center for Community Engagement (PSU 131)!
3) Why is the community service pillar of the Public Affairs Mission so important to you? How do you live the Public Affairs mission in your life? I feel like community service goes along with my ‘everywhere is my home’ thought process. Whenever I am somewhere new, I like to see what the city has to offer and what the people who make up the location are like. Since moving to Springfield in 2016, I have had endless opportunities to be involved with non-profit organizations with missions to do good. Missouri State makes it so easy to get connected and explore all the different types of service around us.
Community service is constructed of your own efforts and ideas and how you can use your time and skills to help where you live. I believe it is well represented in the phrase, ‘The water isn’t greener on the other side, it’s green where you water it’. Make your community your home and give it love and respect so that it grows to share that same love and respect with others. I am grateful to be able to live this out through my work with Bear Service Team and the Center for Community Engagement.
I live the Public Affairs mission in the details of my life. Being open-minded and respectful of the opinions I am encounter, even if they are different from my own, is one way I practice it. This is how I believe you build cultural competence. I believe integrity is the most important factor in Ethical Leadership. Do the right thing all the time, even when no one is looking. Also, to decide what the right thing is, think about what is best for the group as a whole.
4) You are planning on going into the Peace Corps. Can you tells us about the Peace Corps, what you want to do and how you think this will improve your life and the lives of those you will be working with? I love the Peace Corps! It is a government organization with a mission of promoting world peace and friendship. They send volunteers into countries all around the world to work with communities who want to work with Americans and tackle any problems they may face in their society. The missions of the volunteers are sorted among six sectors: agriculture, community economic development, education, environmental, health, and youth in development. There’s something for everyone! My personal goals with the Peace Corps is to help small businesses with their public relations, marketing, and communication efforts or to be an educator who teaches English in a Spanish speaking country. I believe communication is at the basis of love, peace, and understanding. I want to be someone who gives others skills that will eventually provide them with abundant opportunities. The Peace Corps is a unique, amazing way for me to broaden my worldly perspective and practice the skills I have been learning in school. I will also be able to continue learning and apply the lessons I learn then and there to my experiences when I come back to the states.
5) If someone would like to get more information about the Peace Corps, how would they go about getting that information? I am so happy to share with other students about what the Peace Corps is and how they can get involved! My goal is to connect with students’ one-on-one and discuss opportunities and choices that they can make now that would benefit them if they are interested in joining the Peace Corps or working in other international fieldwork programs in the future. If they would like more information, they can reach out to me at voyles125@live.missouristate.edu, or go to the Center for Community Engagement’s page on the Missouri State website and select the Peace Corps logo and apply from there. Also, they are more than welcome to stop by the Center for Community Engagement office (PSU 131) to get more information, ask questions, or just talk a bit about the Peace Corps!
6) What’s your favorite Missouri State tradition and why? My favorite Missouri State Tradition is the New Student Festival! This is how I got involved with many organizations at MSU and how I was able to connect with students interested in volunteering. It is such a fun start to new semesters and provides students a convenient way to see what their new school has to offer.
7) What do you hope your legacy will be at Missouri State? I hope to leave a legacy at Missouri State of ambition, kindness, and optimism. I believe in working hard, being inclusive, and dreaming big. I try to share my attitudes and beliefs so others can learn about them and practice behaving mindfully. You never know what people are going through and you also cannot control them. However, you can always be responsible for the way you treat others. I hope to be remembered as someone who cared about making change.