Articles/Reflections of Faith

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Living the Volunteer Life

The JVC, which predates the Peace Corps, provides an opportunity for direct faith-inspired service to the poor and underserved by placing college graduates across the country in areas ranging from the Alaskan Yukon to the Gulf Coast and from the Midwest and Eastern urban cores to Himilayan villages in Nepal.

The work done by Jesuit Volunteers around the world challenges them on the intellectual, spiritual and emotional level. The JV works with a local social service agency or community organization making a concrete difference in the lives of the men, women and children who are being served.

Jesuit Volunteers also make a commitment to integrating the four values of community, spirituality, social justice and simple lifestyle. This means active involvement in community nights, spirituality nights, regional retreats and purposeful decisions as a community.

Cassie Clemente, 23, joined the JVC after graduating from St. Mary's College in Maryland. She moved from her home in the Washington, DC area and was placed in Milwaukee. It certainly wasn't the easiest year of Clemente's young life, but it has been the most rewarding. The JVC is accepting applications for a year of service which begins in September. Applications and more information can be found at www.jesuitvolunteers.org

Here are Clemente's reflections

It is certainly strange to think that I will be flying back to Washington DC, and not just for a holiday or trip home to see my family, but to move on from being a Jesuit Volunteer (JV) to being a Former Jesuit Volunteer (FJV). I can vividly remember last August in Maryland spending time by the Chesapeake Bay and not fully grasping what the year ahead would be like.

"I had never been to Milwaukee, actually I had never been off the East Coast, and now I was signed up to leave for a year and move in with 6 people I did not know and work in innercity Milwaukee for a year. Since that time, I have traveled all over the Midwest, from Moline, Ill. to Detroit and even to the Upper Peninsula. I have met tons of amazing people, and learned how to make peace when living with seven people, and even how it feels when it is so cold that they close schools.

"There is no story or book or website or FJV blog that could ever fully prepare you for a year of the JVC. I came into JVC not really knowing what to expect. I knew I would be living with six other people in Milwaukee and that we would do things together as a community, although, I didn't really know what that meant. I know now that means that we are in it together and we have to learn how to make it work. Whether that is a good definition of community or not, I don't know, but I am thankful to have had those six others walking with me on this journey. I am certain, however, that I am not yet even aware of most of the things that I have learned. I think this year is something that I will look back on for many years to come and begin, bit by bit, to fully comprehend the lessons.

"Living as a JV is a life of constant contradictions. We need to stay on budget, but we want to support local grocery stores instead of large chains. We want to spend time together having fun as a community, but we all have obligations at work. We want to be present to the time here, but it is only natural to look ahead and begin planning for what is next. We desire to live simply, but also want to get out of our house and go places together. These are just some of the struggles. The best thing is that we do it all together.

"I thought it would be cool to have seven people in our house because there would always be someone to hang out with or do things with. I didn't really think about that fact that we would be part of a larger community that also provides support and friendship. The country is full of FJVs and Ignatian Associates and Jesuits and people that just support JVC. We have been welcomed into this larger community and thus everything we do seems a little bit easier.

"It turns out, your job placement is only one part of JVC, although a significant one. I work at Holy Wisdom Academy on the south side of the city. As is typical of many JV placements I don't really have an official title. During the school year I was a teacher's aide, recess expert, lunch lady, substitute teacher, reading tutor, math tutor, field trip chaperone, and mentor (if I had to try to make a title). This summer I am a math teacher for 14-year-olds and 5-yearolds. I go from teaching about reciprocals and fractions to working on how to write the number 4. For me, it doesn't really matter what my job is or what I am doing each day, as long as I am around the kids.

"It is so fun just to sit and eat breakfast with them and listen to their stories and hear about what they watch on TV, or to go out to recess and play football or four square with them and remember what it was like to be eight years old. I look at each of my students and every day I am amazed at what wonderful young people they already are. They show up for school early, they help out with their younger siblings, they do their homework (most of the time), and they really want to succeed. They make each day, regardless of the frigid weather in the winter or the long wait for a bus, completely worthwhile. I will miss each one of them next year, and regret that I was only a part of their lives for a short time.

"I cannot sum up my JVC experience in one eloquent sentence or paragraph, but I know it was all worth it. Waiting at a bus stop in the pouring rain, shivering in our living room when it got really cold this winter, having seemingly endless conversations about who would share a room, eating hot dogs for dinner three times in one week because we had them left over and did not want to waste, driving packed together for six hours in a small car with five people to Iowa to meet one of my roommate's family, trying repeatedly to teach a student how to write a cursive "k" and thinking, that it probably doesn't matter anyway because many adults don't use cursive.

"Each of these things individually might not mean much, but when added to the endless list of memories and moments that I have collected from this year, it means everything. I feel blessed to have been able to experience this year, honored to have served with such great people, and proud to be able to call myself an FJV. "

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