By Camlyn Giddins from the Center for Service and Learning
BYU students are involved in a myriad of activities and studies, but what makes it a joyful, growing experience is the service given. Freshman year is the time to set a foundation of service for the rest of your life and Freshman Service Corps (FSC) is the place to start.
In FSC an activity is planned by freshmen for freshmen (although activities are open to anyone) once a month. FSC provides a diverse array of activities. Last year, FSC worked with programs like Community Outreach Day, Adaptive Aquatics, Project Uplift, Service to the World, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Horses for Healing and Rural Housing Development. Some even teamed up with the residence
halls for a dance.
Jeffrey Furlong, a recent graduate who started FSC, remains a strong advocate for the program and service in general.
“If Christ were here on this campus,” he said, “what do you think He would be doing?”
Casey Peterson, the Director of the Y-serve Center, has been a large part of expanding the program. He advocates students get involved to increase their confidence.
“When you put [freshmen] in the position of being the helper instead of the insecure, inadequate person, it helps them to find their place and a start to build into something bigger and greater than themselves,” Peterson said. Nathan Fronk also served on the FSC council.
“I heard people who wanted to be doctors say, ‘For the first 10 years, I’m going to make money, and then I’m going to go to Africa,’ he said. “And I thought, ‘Why do you have to wait?’”
Visit the Center for Service and Learning or the Y-serve office for other service opportunities to enrich your college experience. Y-serve has two offices in the Wilkinson Student Center 2330 and 2010. Last year, over 22,000 BYU students served with the center.
There are over 60 programs to get involved in, but if you see a need that is not being met, you can create your own group. If you want to volunteer or help plan events, email byufsc@ byu.edu, visit the Facebook Y-serve BYU page or our website at yserve.byu.edu.
