By Taylor Ware
Get out of your comfort zone and try new things— that’s what everyone will tell you as you start your university adventure. The beginning stages of college are intimidating. Getting involved in unfamiliar activities can be unnerving. Service-learning often falls into this bracket of “intimidating” activities, but it doesn’t have to. Take recent graduate, Nick Lantz, as evidence.
Nick arrived at Missouri State University eager and spirited. He was ready to make a difference. With lofty aspirations for medical school and a passion for helping people, he soon found a home with service-learning.
Nick was introduced to the possibilities of service-learning through presentations from our office in several of his introductory courses. When a close friend of his brought him to the office, he met with our director, Dr. Kathy Nordyke, who informed Nick more about opportunities that met his needs.
He was soon assigned to be the lead student in charge of two after-school programs at Robberson Community School. Robberson supports underprivileged kids, helping them find their purpose and develop long-term skills. Nick took charge of the Medical Explorers and FENLE (Happy Healthy Munchkins) programs.
Working with a younger age group helped Nick consider who he’d like to work with in the future. He also oversaw a group of roughly 15 peers that curated a weekly schedule, lesson plan, and coordinated communication between Robberson and the CASL office. These programs developed soft skills, like time management, leadership, scheduling, public speaking and writing.
In addition to Nick’s personal gain, his students benefitted. Robberson plays a critical part in not only providing an education, but a chance for these kids to start off on the right foot. The Medical Explorers program, for instance, offered an introduction to the medical field for 5th graders. An option for children who would otherwise likely never see medicine as an option for themselves.
“My time there taught me that I could have a huge impact on someone’s direction in life, that’s what gave me the extra push to continue pursuing medicine,” Nick explains. He emerged from Robberson a more marketable medical school candidate as well as a more impassioned person.
Post-undergrad, Nick had intended to take the MCAT right away and enter medical school. Despite these plans, Dr. Nordyke knew it wasn’t quite time for his service-learning journey to end. Nick decided to go to graduate school for public health and stay on with the CASL office as a graduate assistant.
As a graduate assistant with a medical background, a new role was developed for Nick with Springfield Community Gardens. The gardens had recently received a multi-million-dollar grant to fund a medical garden program. Nick explained that the premise of the medical garden was to provide access to fresh produce for patients coming out of CoxHealth Medical Center South. The produce supplied served as an alternative form of prescription as opposed to pharmaceuticals.
After a semester working with the medical garden, a new opportunity for Nick surfaced. Dr. Debra Williams, Vision Rehabilitation Center of the Ozarks (VRCO) board member, announced the start of a research project studying the impact of hyperbaric chambers oxygen on diabetic retinopathy. “This was practically a golden ticket into medical school,” said Nick.
This research is considered cutting-edge and means a lot to those suffering from degenerative diseases. The work done here will go on to support new wave treatments in the medical field. For the rest of Nick’s time as a graduate assistant, he worked alongside Dr. Williams. He helped grow the program from 10 students to more than 30 before graduating. Nick also landed a seat on the board of the VRCO as well as several opportunities to shadow the physicians who provided care there.
Nick explained, “Being a GA was a rollercoaster between advising and coordinating programs in addition to full-time school and work at the hospital on the weekends. But looking back, I realize how much I was able to grow professionally, socially and academically through that experience.”
Currently, Nick is awaiting medical school acceptance and working at the Polk County health department in Bolivar as the Environmental Health Supervisor. He began there as an intern but was promoted to his current supervisor position after only 8 months.
“Sitting here now, I think about how if I’d never accepted that first service-learning position at Robberson, I wouldn’t have been convinced to do a master’s program, and I most likely wouldn’t have received such a rewarding, high-paying position right out of school,” Nick said. Service-learning helped him develop the skills necessary to navigate a professional environment, work cooperatively with peers and understand how to collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
When asked what he would say to a student unsure about service-learning, Nick echoed our initial sentiment. He expressed the importance of getting out of your comfort zone. The CASL office has already done the hard part by making connections with local organizations and providing a path for students. Any one of these community partners could be your future employer or a networking contact that lands you a job. At the very least, they build your resume and provide enriching, hands-on experience.
“I never thought I would enjoy the sound of 30 kindergartners screaming in excitement to learn about healthy eating and exercise, but now, I can’t imagine giving up that experience. Doing something unfamiliar like service-learning is undoubtedly the best way to grow into your fully realized self.”
Great article Taylor