COMPUTER LITERACY course at Raritan Valley has a Service Learning component where student volunteers go into Somerset County elementary schools to tutor computer classes.  Jennifer Dietrich of Manville instructs a student at Manville Elementary School.

Yes, it's that time of year again. 

Another year of college life to find out who we really are and what we want to do with the rest of our lives. My name is Andre Gilchrist. I'm here to tell you one of the doors to your future is Raritan Valley's Service Learning program. I'm proud to say I've been involved in Service Learning ever since I started at RVCC in spring 1997.

My initial placement was with the Somerset Chapter of the American Red Cross as part of my English I class. Lately, I've been working with Professor Carroll Wilson, chair of the English Department, on a project at the Metlar- Bodine House in Piscataway. There, we meet with the men and women who know the early history of Piscataway as passed down from their families. We have been taking down oral histories, and I'm helping to compile them in a formal manuscript.

This fall, I'm doing my Service Learning with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to satisfy requirements in both Statistics I and Human Behavior in the Social Environment. The Service Learning program at Raritan Valley is unique because of the way we allow students to intertwine community service with academics. The disciplines of accounting, biology, business law, computer science, criminal justice, desktop publishing, economics, early childhood education, fine arts, foreign languages, history, legal assisting, marketing, math, nursing, physical education, and sociology all have Service Learning components.

This means the College can serve the needs of a large selection of diverse students.

Being of service is truly the characteristic of a humble person. There's no better feeling than being of service to your fellow man. It also allows one to grow emotionally. I know being of service to others helps me get out of my own self-centeredness. When I did my first assignment with the Red Cross, it was an amazing feeling knowing you are helping people you'll never meet.

         Service Learning is an opportunity for every student here. Talk to Coordinator Lori Moog at Ext. 8284 to volunteer.