Charlotte Latin Service Society Class of 2018
Charlotte Latin Service Society The stated mission of Charlotte Latin School is to “encourage individual development and civility in our students by inspiring them to learn, by encouraging them to serve others, and by offering them many growth-promoting opportunities.” The Charlotte Latin Community Service Program provides numerous opportunities to meet these objectives. Participation in our service program allows students to develop an appreciation and understanding of service to others. Through exposure to and interaction with people with diverse backgrounds, abilities and socio-cultural traditions, students have firsthand opportunities to learn, to explore and to find shared human concerns. These experiences help students discover abilities within themselves and others. The Service Program provides opportunities for our students to develop leadership skills so that they can more effectively serve the community at large. The Charlotte Latin Service Society was created to encourage students to participate in the Community Service Program and to recognize those students who have made significant contributions to the area of community service. To be inducted into the Service Society, a four-year student must perform at least 150 hours of service. Students who transfer into our School will have their hour requirements prorated. Students may earn the necessary hours at any time in their Latin career, including summers — beginning with the summer before the Grade 9 year. It is hoped that service to others will become part of a student’s lifestyle and that a significant number of hours will be earned during the school year through the School’s service program. It is also hoped that the service will, for the most part, be service to those truly in need. Service must be rendered to persons outside of the Upper School and must benefit people outside of the student’s peer group or people within non-school organizations of which the student is a member. The members of the Class of 2018 listed to the right have met the requirements for induction into the Service Society. This booklet has been created to recognize their achievement.
Class of 2018 Inductees Thomas Aucamp Caroline Balogh Ashton Barlow Cecelia Berens Abby Carpenter Eliza Cotchett Andrew Egge Mallory Evans Austin Fitzgerald Julia Gass
Colin Geraghty Will Hull Matthew Jordan Joshua Manuel Ansley Nurkin Michael Quartapella Matigan Simpson Michele Tian Will Troutman Lauren Williams
Service Organizations Below is a small selection of the many organizations Charlotte Latin Upper School students have worked with in recent years.
Community Organizations
Community Assistance
Schools
Acing Autism American Red Cross Autism Charlotte Camp SOAR Community Blood Bank of the Carolinas Crisis Assistance CROP Walk Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Girl Up Girls Who Code iCanBike ImaginOn Kids First Latin American Festival Loaves and Fishes Melodic Minors Mindstrings Nevin’s Center Patriot Military Family Foundation Paws for the Cause Room in the Inn Safe Alliance Second Harvest Food Bank Serve for the Cure SPCA Special Olympics Take on Sports
Blessings in a Backpack CHAMP Club Sandwich Cookies for Kids Cancer Habitat for Humanity Hope Haven Humane Society of Charlotte Joy Prom Levine Children’s Hospital Laps for Love Matthews Help Center Mitzvah Day Operation Christmas Child ParaOlympics Race for the Cure Ronald McDonald House Sandbox Stop Hunger Now
Ballantyne Elementary Billingsville Elementary Charlotte Bilingual Preschool Community School for the Arts Costwold Elementary Druid Hill Elementary Endhaven Elementary Lakewood Preschool Lansdowne Elementary McAlpine Elementary Parkwood Elementary Pinewood Elementary Winterfield Elementary Westerly Hills Elementary Yellow Brick Road Preschool
Service Trip and International Support Africa Arizona Australia Belize Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador Guatemala Haiti Honduras Honduras Home for Girls India Mexico Nica Nadadores Thailand Tumaini Tanzania
Thomas Aucamp “No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been received for what he gave.� - Calvin Coolidge
Service has been instrumental in my development as a man. It started out as something my parents pushed me to do throughout Middle School, but that quickly changed into a love for helping others. Whether through Scouting or the Ronald McDonald House, service has helped me mature and given me a new perspective into the lives of others, as well as learn important leadership skills. It not only helps those being helped, but it is an enjoyable, worthwhile experience that I am grateful for.
Caroline Balogh “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” - Helen Keller Service is learning. You are constantly learning about the community around you and the lives you’re impacting as well as yourself. I grew up in a nourishing home where my brothers and I were introduced to “service” at a very young age. Whether it was going toy shopping for Operation Christmas Project, serving meals to the homeless or helping with the Special Olympics, helping others was always apart of my lifestyle. As I grew older I have participated in more service opportunities in Charlotte and world-wide. My favorite part about service is how you get to interact with kids and adults one on one and hear their story and see how you are impacting them. Serving others has taught me patience and understanding. You can truly tell that you are making a difference in their lives.
Ashton Barlow “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” - Mother Teresa Growing up, my parents have always taught my siblings and me the importance of giving back and appreciating what we have. When I was little I didn’t fully grasp the concept of service. Then, I thought service was a one-way street, one where I was helping others. However, my definition of service was completely altered when I met Maeve. Standing next to my youngest sister, Maeve looked nearly identical to her. What differentiated the two of them was something you couldn’t see, it was inside Maeve. When she was four months old, Maeve was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic life-threatening disease that damages the lungs and digestive system. Since being diagnosed, Maeve does treatments every day and has been in the hospital more than she has been able to go to school, often because she can’t breathe. After learning her story and watching my dad’s growing involvement with the foundation, I became interested in joining the search to add tomorrows for those with CF by finding a cure. When I was finally able to volunteer at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s events as a freshman, I was even more impressed by the strength of those fighting CF and those involved in the same search as myself. Talking, helping, and listening to the relatives, friends, and strangers of those with CF truly broadened my perspective on how strong people can be when life seems so unfair. As a simple volunteer at events where I thought I was helping, I realized the people I was servicing were also helping me. Through their unbelievable strength and perseverance, they changed my life. Often, I catch myself taking life for granted. Surrounding myself with service opportunities, learning others’ stories, and dedicating my time for others, I’ve realized life should never be taken for granted, especially the simple act of breathing. I’m forever grateful for the conversations and relationships I’ve created through my involvement with serving the CF community. What I once thought was a one-way street, has clearly become a two-way street, and I can’t wait to continue the journey of helping to find a cure.
Cecelia Berens “Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.� - Buddha
Through service I have learned how to step outside of myself and prioritize others. Every person faces unique trials and I have found that it is often in my ability to help ease these burdens. In most of the volunteer opportunities to which I have dedicated my time I work with children or people with disabilities. Volunteering with these programs has been amazing because I have been able to see the direct impact these programs and volunteers like myself have on their lives. It is only by helping others that we can find true fulfillment and volunteering has provided me with the avenue to have a significant effect on the world around me.
Abby Carpenter “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.� - Isaiah 58:10 Service has been a part of my life since even before my freshman year. However, it was not until my trip to Guatemala that my definition of service was deeply changed. It was so unlike me to lunge at an opportunity so far out of my comfort zone, but something called me to write my name on the interest list. The next thing I know, I’m riding a bus through the winding terrain of Guatemala to the town of San Mateo. I started this journey to Central America with the purpose of determining whether a medical career such as nursing was possibly in the future for me as I prepared to work in a local public health clinic. This experience took me far beyond that in the end. All I had to do was weigh their baby, yet the news that their child was healthy and growing at a proper rate brought endless joy to a family with limited resources. It opened my eyes to living a life of service as a nurse as I saw the power of a friendly face in an unfamiliar environment. Service is defined as the act of doing work for someone else. For me, service is, in fact, giving back to those in need, but it is much more than that as well. It is the newfound gratitude it gives to life. The impact I can have on the life of a complete stranger. The smile on their face when I give them a glimmer of hope. That is service to me.
Eliza Cotchett “It is by spending one’s self that one becomes rich.” - Sarah Bernhardt
Throughout my life, the meaning and purpose of doing service has evolved. Growing up in a service-oriented family, my family was involved in many different projects with our church. It was then that I learned that service meant doing something to help someone else without expecting anything in return. As a child and young teenager, service taught me the importance of not being selfish and thinking of others’ problems before my own. In high school and middle school, I became much more involved with service individually. Through youth group, Young Life, and other school service programs, service not only improved the quality of my life, but also opened me up to interact with people with different backgrounds than mine. After spending a month volunteering as a waitress at a Young Life summer camp, I learned that another important factor of service is that it is a ripple effect. Doing service not only improves your own character, but also the character of those you are serving. In other words, this one act of kindness has the potential to lead to many more by inspiring those you are serving to do the same.
Andrew Egge “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s going to get better. It’s not.” - Dr. Seuss
Service, to me, starts with recognizing how good a hand I have been dealt. I am lucky to have the opportunities to succeed, whereas so many others lack such opportunities, and will have to work so much harder to achieve their life’s goals. Through service, I hope to help others realize their potential, fight through whatever adversity lies ahead of them, and find success in whatever endeavors they choose to pursue. An hour of my time dedicated to service amounts to so much more than the mere 3,600 seconds of which it is comprised, through the community it can build, the people it can help, and the lives it can change.
Mallory Evans “Nothing can dim the light that shines from within� - Maya Angelou
Volunteering granted me the opportunity to grow as an individual through each activity and challenge. Whether I delivered mail in the hospital, served in Guatemala, or played freeze tag with kids in the Freedom School program, each moment broadened my understanding of others and the world. I quickly learned the power of a smile, and the importance of taking the time to lend an ear. By doing something as simple as carrying a vase of flowers to a room, I could brighten the day of someone going through an incredibly difficult time. Service is essential to our society and harbors empathy, and just one person can make a significant difference in someone else’s life. Furthermore, service has connected me with my community and allowed me to forge strong bonds. The relationships make service fulfilling and humbling. I owe a lot to the people in my community for helping me get where I am today, and it has been my duty to continue that legacy. Every act that we can do for others, regardless of size, holds significance and impacts others.
Austin Fitzgerald “Love is not patronizing and charity isn’t about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same — with charity you give love, so don’t just give money but reach out your hand instead.” – Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa I have been brought up to provide support and be an active and dynamic member of my community and to always do my part. Morally, if I do not make a conscious effort to make the world a better place and to level the playing field for all people, especially those who do not have the same privileges as me in this world, I could not lead a fulfilling life. Giving my own time is the least I can do, especially as a teenager with not much money of my own to give away, and I have found through the service I perform that oftentimes can make a larger impact in the long run. Nothing can replace the benefits of human interaction between the volunteer, the work that they do, and the people who are impacted directly by the resulting work. I have learned many valuable lessons through my volunteerism including empathy, compassion, teamwork, setting goals, and perseverance, and will continue to use these lessons throughout my life, in future service efforts and beyond.
Julia Gass “Do your little bit of good where you are; It is those little bits of good put all together that overwhelm the world.� -Desmond Tutu In volunteering I have found a spirit of caring for others and a community that has taught me what true happiness feels and looks like. At the Ronald McDonald House watching the genuine smile of a 5-year-old boy make a valentine for his sister, who stays at the children’s hospital across the street for cancer treatment pushes me to give him all the support and love he needs during such a hardship in his young life. Through community service, I have fostered new friendships from all different backgrounds that inspire me to make a difference in the lives of others.
Colin Geraghty “I am only one but I am one, I cannot do everything but I can do something, what I can do I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.� - John Fitzgerald Kennedy Service grants people the opportunity to gain new perspectives upon which to live life, as well as the opportunity to learn unparalleled lessons from rewarding experiences outside the school day. By forcing volunteers out of their comfort zones, for the benefit of people like and unlike themselves, service creates a collaborative environment where each and every participant must come together for the common good of those around them. Growing up as a leader within the Take On Sports organization for the past eight years and through taking advantage of the many service opportunities that Charlotte Latin promotes as well, each and every moment has changed my life for the better and I can only hope those who I have shared experiences with felt the same sense of joy and gratitude that I have.
Will Hull “You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do it.” - Dean Smith
By going to Charlotte Latin for thirteen years, I am fortunate to have so much, and a part of me has always felt obligated to help people that haven’t been as fortunate. Service isn’t something that I have been forced to do, but now I feel obligated to help implement change in my community. At the end of the day, when you see someone smile after helping them it lets you know that it’s worth it.
Matthew Jordan
“We are reminded that in the fleeting time we have on this Earth, what matters is not wealth or status or power or fame, but rather how well we have Loved and what small part we have played in making the lives of other people better.” - Barack Obama Service projects have provided me with the opportunity to be an active global citizen and have taught me the importance of compassion and empathy. By participating in local and international service projects, I have developed meaningful friendships and have increased my social awareness. As a result, I have found a calling in providing assistance and support to those in need, and a desire to raise awareness about issues I’m passionate about. Hunger, cancer research, and social justice to name a few. I have seen firsthand how seemingly insignificant acts of service can brighten someone’s day or even change their lives. This has inspired me to continue to serve and find creative ways to help others.
Joshua Manuel
“This is our special duty, that if anyone specially needs our help, we should give him such help to the utmost of our power.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero
Community service is the creation of positivity. Whether it’s something as small as a smile or as large as a house, it takes people working passionately toward a greater good to make a lasting impact. Through working with Take on Sports, I have seen the lasting bonds and friendships that can be created. Working with so many genuine and kind people has shown me that we truly never know who is in need of service, so always be willing to lend a helping hand. I will always cherish the friendships and lessons I gained through service, and I will never forget the profound effect it has had on my life and, hopefully, the lives of others.
Ansley Nurkin “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” - Helen Keller
For me, service is about making a difference in the lives of others. I love interacting with the people I am helping and working with and seeing how it improves and impacts their lives. Service is also about helping my local and international community even if it pushes me outside of my comfort zone (for instance going to Mexico when I don’t speak any Spanish). To me, service isn’t just about bettering the world, but bettering myself as well in the process.
Michael Quartapella “In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.� - Marianne Williamson
Service has become an increasingly important part of my life throughout high school. Although I started volunteering for smaller organizations such as the local soup kitchen, I was happy to be able to extend my service to places around the world as I got older. I enjoy volunteering because I love to learn more about the beneficiaries and their community as a whole. Service provides me with the opportunity to view the world from a different and unique perspective that changes my view of the world around me forever.
Matigan Simpson “The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others.� - Vincent Van Gogh
Throughout my time at Latin, serving the larger Charlotte community has been at the forefront of my extracurricular life. Participating in service opportunities has broadened my perspective and increased my awareness of both the day-to-day challenges that people face and ways to help lighten these burdens. Seeing the impact that I am able to make on the lives of children and adults motivated me to create my own service project. With help from the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas (CBCC), I organized Charlotte’s three largest student-led summer blood drives over the past three years. Running the blood drives expanded my understanding of the ways in which service work benefits a community. The primary goal of any service project is to positively impact the lives of those in need, but with this also comes a positive impact to those who serve. Service enabled me to give others the opportunity to share in my experience of feeling how truly rewarding it is to give selflessly.
Michele Tian “To live in society doesn’t mean simply living side by side with others in a more or less cohesion; it means living through one another and for one another.” - Paul-Eugene Roy Growing up, my parents made it clear that there are people who are not as privileged as I am. Even with that knowledge, I still took the most basic things such as having a good education to even having enough food on the table for granted. To be honest, I started out doing community service hoping that I would get that “stellar” college resume line. However, through my years of volunteer work at Discovery Place, I’ve realized that doing service isn’t about getting recognition, but actually helping others in my community. At the museum, it was so interesting to meet so many different, diverse people from all over Charlotte come together to this museum with the same purpose - to learn more. My role has been to spread knowledge about sea creatures in Touch Tanks and teaching children about environmental issues. I felt proud and joyful when I taught someone something new or showed them an interesting experiment; knowing that I can so easily affect someone else’s life positively surprised and left an impact on my life. To me, community service means doing the little things that makes someone else’s day a little bit better.
Will Troutman “God’s Plan� - Drake
To me, service is making time to help other people and not expecting anything in return. Committing hours to service comes from a genuine and selfless attitude to better your community and world. Service has given me a better understanding and perspective of my life and taught me leadership skills. It is very rewarding to me to help others.
Lauren Williams
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa Coming into high school, I never knew the power of service until I decided to volunteer for multiple programs inside and outside of school. Through my service, I gained a deeper sense of compassion for the people around me. I learned how a small amount of service to someone can have a huge impact on their life, and in return, seeing the joy a person gains from having me help them in any way possible, changes my life for the better. Most importantly, service has taught me how to truly be happy, not only through the act, but interacting with those who benefit from the service. During my time volunteering with people with disabilities and kids who come from low-income families, I watched them show the most joy out of anyone I have ever met. Although I have certainly helped them, I think that the way they show happiness despite their difficulties, has had more of an impact on my life than anything I’ve been a part of before. Those who I have served have shown me the beauty in the smallest aspects in life, and for that, I will be forever grateful.