Senior Volunteers for More than a College Application
NEIRAD enilno edition
There’s a certain feeling one gets after listening to a student list all of his or her activities: the loss of focus; the instantaneous boredom; an overall lack of interest ensue. That’s why it is so refreshing to talk to senior Kristi Carey. An avid member of close to 20 organizations, Kristi proves that not everyone is looking for things to throw on the Common App. Kristi is extremely active in volunteer organizations. “I don’t want anyone to think I’m doing this for any other reason besides loving it, and loving the connections that I make with people.”
As a freshman, Kristi rowed crew, but had to stop because of a hip injury. This allotted her more time for other activities, and this is how she discovered her passion for community service. The biggest help to her finding this passion was The Depot.
In particular, Kristi volunteers with FIRP (Families in Recover Program), an organization that allows a group of women in Stamford recovering from addictions to live with their children. “The strength that they carry is the most inspiring thing,” Kristi said. “It moves me so much.” In particular, she recalls working with a former ambulance driver, who lives with her daughter, but couldn’t keep custody of her son because of her previous addiction. After painful rehabilitation, she graduated the program. “Some of these things are just unimaginable.”
Outside of volunteer work, Kristi has been playing trumpet since fourth grade, but recalls not wanting to continue in high school. “I was hesitant about being a band geek at first. But if someone’s going to be mean to you because you have a special skill, then that’s too bad for them.” Keeping up with trumpet, she is now a member of DHS’s music honor society and mentors students at Middlesex. “I love the mentoring program, the kids are so cute. And it combines the two things I love to do: teaching and the trumpet.” Of course this process is rewarding to Kristi. “The kids really care! I get to speak about something I love and someone actually listens.”
Kristi loves teaching so much that she might even want to be a high school math teacher someday. “Teachers can make the biggest impact on student’s lives,” she said. Kristi tutors high school students to help them prep for SAT and PSAT math. “When people have questions I love to answer them, it’s so rewarding,” Kristi said. “If you ever have a question, she goes out of her way to help you and make sure you understand the answer,” said senior Leslie Gill.
Another organization that Kristi works with is Kids in Crisis (KIC). She helps kids who are from ages 2-12 who live in a house in Greenwich. “We try to have fun with them, try to do things to make them smile,” she said. She remembers painting pumpkins around Halloween with a shy, young boy. “He was a really good artist, but he would only give us two word answers to our questions,” Kristi said. “But once I asked him about his Halloween costume his eyes lit up and he couldn’t stop talking about Star Wars and Legos and everything.”
Even with all of the work she does throughout the week, Kristi always finds time to be a good friend. “Whether it's a hug in the hallway when you're upset or a two hour phone call at 12am the night before a math test, she is always there with a positive attitude and helping hand,’ senior Kendra Osborn said.
Does Kristi ever get tired of doing all this work? “I took a lot on myself for Grim Reaper Day [last spring], not because I didn’t think other people could help, but because I thought I could handle it all myself.” But this hasn’t daunted her at all: “You should take hold of every opportunity you can. My mom always says to me that you can only be in high school once, and the way I’ve applied that is through all my activities. I really just love it.”
