On Community Involvement

Many of the alumni interviewed had creative hobbies or volunteer work that they completed outside of their day job.  Often this work is related to the creative field in which they work primarily during the day.  Many also volunteered in schools and on cultural councils in their municipalities or for other non-profit organizations. 

“I’m very involved in the town that I live in.  I do a volunteer work and I’m a member of my town’s permanent building committee. I’m a library trustee, and I chaired the building committee when we built a new library.” –Lorin Starr, Interior Design Company Principle and Executive Director of WMAIA, MS in Interior Design alumna

“I do a lot of volunteer work.  I work on the Mattoon Street Arts Festival as a volunteer, I maintain the web site for the festival and help promote it and staff it. . . I coordinate something called the 2nd Saturday walking tours and those are held April-Nov. on the 2nd Saturday of the month and they’re in conjunction w/the Springfield Museums. . . I am a board member on the World Affairs Council. . . I just joined the membership committee.” -Erica Walch, Italian Professor and Founder of Accent Modification Company, BA in Art and Masters in Translation Studies alumna