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Have you ever thought about getting involved by tutoring inner city youth? An organization directly connected to the Burnett Honors College does just that. The Page15 organization was introduced by a speaker from H.E.R.O. A civilian can participate in Page15 by logging onto their website, signing up, and submitting an essay stating why they would like to volunteer with this organization. To me civic engagement is all about doing for the community no matter how small and simple it may be. Civic engagement can also be performed by anyone and in any community. No matter if that community is upper, middle, or low class, giving back is civic engagement. Amelia Newmann, a 20 year old junior at the University of Central Florida and a Legal Studies major enjoys volunteering with the Page 15 organization. Amelia is an active member of a sorority and has volunteered with Page 15 for a few months now. Amelia always wanted to get involved and thought this would be perfect for her, even though she did not know what she was getting herself into. I had heard about this organization, but did not know all of the details. After a little research, I decided what the heck I will go for it. I did not know my life would be changed forever after just a few months of volunteering. Page 15 is an organization that has free after school tutoring for reading and writing. They also hold creative writing workshops for those who become more interested in writing over time. Allowing the students to be tutored after school by people their age helps to not only build relationships, but gives them a way to vent about certain problems they may be faced with. Page 15 accepts all children, but the majority of students come from low income homes. Amelia

believes Page 15 is important because it is a way for inner city students to help not only with school work but it gives attention and emotional support for those children who may not be receiving it. While discussing Page 15 and its importance, I asked Amelia what inspired her to become a part of this organization. I thought I would get the boring because I had to volunteer for my sorority or I had to do community service hours for the Burnett Honors College. To my surprise she exclaimed that she has a little sister in Jacksonville that she does not get to visit very often because of her hectic schedule and lack of transportation. Missing her sister propelled her to look into getting involved with younger children. She told me how important she feels the youth is although she is young herself. Without missing a beat Amelia explained how she found some of the younger girls in the program reminded her of her little sister. What is civic engagement to you? Asking this question prompted an awkward silence before she dove in by saying, Civic engagement is anything that helps society. Whether engaging by tutoring, planting a tree, or even taking the time out to talk to someone who is not feeling well which are all positive to society. Civic engagement is not only giving back, but learning, and sometimes doing what others do not want to do. Page 15 not only teaches students but allows the teacher to be taught and that is what I believe civic engagement is all about. Asking what she planned on doing at Page 15 in the next 5 years brought sadness to her eyes. I actually plan on moving back home to Alaska, but the thought of leaving my Page 15 family saddens me. I wish I could take them all with me, but unfortunately I cannot. They will always be in my heart. Having a lot more school work than the usual gives her less and less time to take the trip to Downtown Orlando and volunteer. The only difficult part about volunteering is the drive to and from Downtown Orlando. School is just getting out when I am

on my way there and on my way back people are getting off from work. A 30 to 45 minute drive becomes a complete nightmare, maybe I should try to find an alternate route. Although this is a major bump in the road Amelia still makes the journey to Page 15 and volunteers from 3p.m. to 6p.m. I wanted to volunteer for Page 15 to fill a void so basically for my own selfish reasons, but I ended up falling in love with the children, the organization, and what it represents. This organization has changed my life in ways I would have never imagined and I am truly thankful for everyone and the many circumstances I have come in contact with. Page 15 gave me an opportunity to connect with different people. I appreciate this organization because they not only have younger inner city children, but older teenage kids that may not always feel comfortable talking to an adult about their problems. Just knowing that a child looks up to me and trusts me enough to share with and include me into their world makes what I do worth the horrendous drive.

Letter 1 Mariah, you have an interesting story so far. It might be because I havent slept much in the past couple of days, but I did not see a well defined definition of civic engagement. I would defiantly expand on the civic engagement idea when you rewrite your paper. The stories narrative is set up well and your flow works. How you have set up your direct quotes gives a lot of power and meaning to your profile. The way that you set your student up for civic engagement is great. You wrote about Amelias struggles that she goes through which I think shows a great motivation for civic engagement. As I am re-reading your paper, there are not too many flaws that I am able to see. Just re-read your paper and fine tune it and you should do fine. -Steven Ponson

Letter 2 Mariah, I think Amelia Newmann is a fine example of someone engaged in a community. I think the best thing to place an emphasis on in your Profile of Engagement is how Amelia has essentially been fulfilling requirements for the Burnett Honors College but ended up experiencing much more than she could have ever anticipated. I believe this is an area that you can develop further. It will help you create a well rounded definition of civic engagement as you see it through what Amelia is doing and the ways civic engagement changes a person. Now, I saw that you included Amelias answer to the question What is civic engagement?, but I think that you can bring this out more throughout the profile. I like that you established the audience in the opening line as prospective volunteers. I think there is room for more content directed towards an audience. Perhaps it could be as simple as providing a way someone could get in contact with Page 15, or perhaps by speaking directly to your imagined audience of just how important Page 15 is. I suggest that there are a few ways to enhance the narrative, or flow, of your profile. You bring up an organization directly connected to Burnett Honors College but then you immediately introduce Amelia. I believe something like the first line from your second paragraph that describes Page 15 would be a perfect fit here, because it introduces me to what Page 15 does. I believe it will help restate what you already made clear in the first line of the profile. My first time reading through the paragraph dealing with the difficulty Amelia has in volunteering I thought it was going to end on a bummer note. Perhaps if you reworked a line, similar to the last sentence of the paragraph, before Amelias quote it would make your intentions of showing her perseverance that much clearer. I also think that a conclusion would be helpful to tie up and further clarify the civic engagement aspects of the profile. Think about how much Amelias perspective was changed! That is significant. I really think you got something there. Hope this helps, Michael OSteen