Meet the Peer Council Members
Site Coordinators
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Eugenia Brown
The Black Child Development Institute of Greensboro
embrown4@uncg.edu
My name is Eugenia Brown and I am a junior at UNCG majoring in Social Work with a minor in African American Studies. I am involved in numerous clubs on campus including Roteract and Circle K. I also work as a UNS facilitator and Spartan Leading Spartan consultant as well. I am very excited to work with Black Child Development this year and serve on the Peer Council. As a member of the Peer Council I hope to inform students on campus of issues affecting our community, and I hope to increase participation in academic programs at my site. In my free time I enjoy reading and skateboarding and just volunteering wherever I can.
My favorite quote comes from the Americorp pledge which states:
"Faced with apathy, I will take action;
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground;
Faced with adversity, I will persevere."
Kissy Gomes
Greensboro Urban Ministry
gum.uncg.@gmail.com
I am concentrating my studies on Information Systems and Operations Management and Communication Studies. I enjoy sharing hope, embracing diversity, and burning calories to name a few. I became a Site Coordinator after what was supposed to be a one time volunteer experience. Hope is the one thing that we all cannot live without. When a person has hope, they have a purpose and reason to live. As a volunteer and Site Coordinator at Greensboro Urban Ministry, I have seen first-hand the positive effects that working with others has had on both parties involved. Not only does Greensboro Urban Ministry provide crisis intervention and emergency services through the basics of food, shelter, and clothing, but G.U.M. also helps many individuals and families break the cycles of poverty, hunger, addiction, and homelessness.
My goal as Site Coordinator is provide students with opportunities to volunteer so that they too can reap the invaluable benefits. I think there is this misconception that only one person benefits from the volunteering experience. Someone goes with the mindset that they are there "to serve," not realizing that they are being "served" themselves.
Carissa Harmon
Big Brothers Big Sisters & BBBS Campus Sidekicks
caharmon@uncg.edu
My name is Carissa Harmon and I am a sophomore majoring in elementary education. I love to run and play sports. I have a passion for volunteering and being part of changing something bigger than myself. I am a site coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters. This organization matches UNCG volunteers with middle school kids giving them positive role models who they are able to connect with. I became part of this organization last year and it is truly a rewarding one. It is full of motivation and dedication and those are two things that I strongly believe in. The smiles on the kids' faces when they arrive at UNCG just warm my heart. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a wonderful organization and I am honored to be a part of it.
Favorite quote:
"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
-Gandhi
Brittany Maul
Big Brothers Big Sisters & BBBS Campus Sidekicks
bmmaul@uncg.edu
I am currently a Sophomore Marketing major and Economics minor from Fayetteville, North Carolina. I love spending time with my friends, shopping, watching movies, and eating out. Overall I am a very sincere person and I am passionate about anything and everything that I pour my heart into, and I truly believe I can accomplish anything that I put my mind to.
I am a Site Coordinator for the Big Brothers Big Sisters/Campus Sidekicks program where a group of volunteers from UNCG spend time with a child from a local middle school in Greensboro. During the time we spend with these children, we talk and participate in various learning activities that are directed toward teaching the kids different character traits. I wanted to be a part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters/Campus Sidekicks program because I enjoy spending time with kids and I feel that if they have positive people in their lives, they can grow and evolve into better individuals. I hope and strive to be a positive person and hope to influence and serve as a role model to younger generations.
Favorite quote:
"The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary."
Sade Littlejohn
YWCA/Teen Parent Mentor Program
srlittl3@uncg.edu
I am a senior Media Studies major with a minor in Sociology. I am originally from Gaffney, South Carolina, but I've spent the majority of my life in Winston-Salem, NC. I am a HUGE music fanatic. I love almost anything from classical to R&B. I love life and I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I am also passionate about service. I love helping others in any way that I can. I don't view service as something that I have to do, it comes naturally.
I choose to take on the position as Site Coordinator for the YWCA/Teen Parent Mentor Program because I have my own personal experience of being a teen mom. It was not easy for me, but I made it through because I had a support system to help me through my transition into motherhood. I simply want to give back what was given to me. This time in their lives can be filled with mixed emotions and can also be a little scary. So knowing that there's someone out there who is your friend, whom you can talk to and whom also has good wishes for you can have a huge impact on the teen's life.
My hopes for the Teen Parent Mentor Program are to heighten the awareness of it here on campus and to continue to build stronger relationships between the moms and student volunteers from UNCG.
Quote:
"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm."
-Cicely Tyson
Michelle McQuage
Servant Garden
mrmcquag@uncg.edu
I will be a Senior this year. I am a Biology major with concentrations in Human Biology and the pre-professional pre-Med program and a Chemistry minor. My hometown is Fayetteville, NC. I love the mountains and any outdoor adventure. My favorite place to be in the United States is Colorado because I love the scenery and the snow in the winter. I am an aspiring doctor, with hopes of specializing in Geriatrics. I am a site coordinator for the Servant Garden. I chose to be a part of Peer Council because I love volunteering. I enjoy making people smile. I chose to work with the Servant Garden because I love working with Muriel. She is one of the greatest people I've ever met. I have been volunteering with the Servant Garden for three years now, and have finally been given the opportunity to take on a greater role at the Garden. I look forward to working with new people and getting others excited about volunteering!
Favorite quote:
"Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them."
-Aristotle
Holly Nowak
Lutheran Family Services
hmnowak@uncg.edu
I am a Social Work major from Apex, NC. I enjoy going to the beach whenever possible and walking on the shores. I love to play and watch any lacrosse game. I became a Site Coordinator because there are so many volunteer opportunities in the Greensboro area that I feel students should learn about and become involved.
I volunteer at Lutheran Family Services which is an organization that helps immigrants and refugees when they first arrive to the country. I feel that this is an important task because this is the last chance for some of these people to escape a horrible life and it is an amazing feeling to know how much you are helping.
As part of being a Site Coordinator, I want to do a couple of food and clothes drives to help the clients at this organization. Most of the clients come to this country with a few bags of basic necessities and could really use the extra food and clothes. Food and clothes drives are simple ways that everyone can help make a difference.
Favorite quote:
"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all which have the potential to turn a life around."
-Leo Buscaglia
Special Project Coordinators, Reflection Coordinators, & Trip Coordinators
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Erin Casanega
Special Projects Coordinator
eecasane@uncg.edu
Movement is one way in which I am expressive, and I am either dancing or moving around all over the place. I am a Dance major with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Connecting with others and learning about peoples' differing experiences and backgrounds is important to me. I am a lover of thinking, but I am even more enamored with taking action. I am a Special Projects Coordinator for the Peer Council. This acts as an effective way to take action and get involved in all sorts of civic activities in the community. My goals are to get other students interested in volunteerism and help organize details concerning local philanthropic projects in Greensboro. I am coming to realize how people are capable of creating and maintaining wonderful outreaches to the community and to larger areas in the world through Peer Council. I am excited to be a part of a group that possesses one big heart.
One of my favorite quotes:
"There is much beauty here because there is much beauty everywhere."
-Rainer Maria Rilke
Sonja Makitan
Special Projects Coordinator
s_makita@uncg.edu
I feel old in admitting that I'm already a junior. I am majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Environmental Studies. I was born in Bosnia and I grew up in Croatia. I am not ashamed to admit that I have to have chocolate on a daily basis. If I could travel and learn about different cultures for the rest of my life, I'd be in a complete state of bliss. Last year, I went on two relief trips to the Gulf Coast with OLSL and loved meeting new people, helping a community in need, and learning a little more about myself. I know a lot of students don't have time to dedicate to volunteering on a weekly basis--that's why I'm excited to be a Special Projects Coordinator for the Peer Council. I will be organizing a variety of one time projects this year and hoping to give students an opportunity to get involved.
Favorite quote:
"Love life, engage in it, give it all you've got. Love it with a passion, because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.
-Maya Angelou
Audrey Smith
Trip Coordinator
a_smith2@uncg.edu
I am a junior majoring in Jazz Studies, with a Spanish minor. I am passionate about music and communicating through sound. More broadly, I am passionate about helping others, helping the world, and..life! Possibility and opportunity excite me!
I come to the position of Special Projects coordinator after attending four relief trips to the Gulf Coast. Relief/service trips not only help provide support for those in need, but also provide a unique and stimulating learning experience for participants.
This year's relief trips will include more travel to the gulf to rebuild and to provide other services as communities continue the process of rebirth after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Trips may also involve travel to other areas in the U.S. and within North Carolina as weather and natural disasters continue to debilitate communities.
Favorite quote:
"The more we are ourselves, the more we have to offer the world. This kind of confidence takes a lot of courage and conviction. I hope I never lose the passion for these virtues. I'll need them in the long journey ahead called being woman in a man's field."
-Elizabeth Evans-Hagan
Alyssa Frady
Reflection Coordinator and NC Campus Compact Student Committee Representative
acfrady@uncg.edu
I am a Special Education/Elementary Education Dual major. I enjoy going to coffee shops, traveling, collecting teacher supplies, lame jokes, and going to Target. This is my second year on Peer Council. Previously I was a Site Coordinator for After Gateway, Inc. Being involved with OLSL has been a blast and has opened my eyes to many new and fabulous opportunities.
I am the Reflection Coordinator for the Peer Council this year. Reflection is an important part of service-learning because it allows people to really think about what they did during their service experiences. People become much more connected to their service experiences when they're really able to think about what they've done and why they've done it. It allows us to examine why we do what we do, because we don't always get to see the beginning and the end of everything that we do.
I am also the UNCG representative for the North Carolina Campus Contact Student Advisory Board. Campus Contact is a national organization who educates college students on becoming active members of the community through service-learning. The Student Advisory Board is the student voice for NCCC. Among other things, they plan the annual NCCC Student Conference and choose a statewide student initiative.
Favorite Quote:
"Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
-Ella Fitzgerald
Interested in joining the Peer Council?
We recommend that prospective Site Coordinators have served at least one semester with their partner organization, and that prospective Special Projects Coordinators have some event planning and volunteer recruitment experience. Applications are reviewed throughout the year. If you're interested in becoming a Peer Council Member, please look over the Peer Council Member Expectations and Goals (48 KB) (PDF) and contact Lauren Smalley, AmeriCorps*VISTA, to set up a meeting!