Seniors to Pursue Public Service Jobs

Right or wrong, most people think of a Harvard degree as the ultimate passport to big bucks. Despite the Admissions Office's claims to the contrary, many students come to the College because of its reputation for producing generations of successful lawyers and businesspeople.

But not all students leave the Yard with visions of dollar sings dancing in their dreams. Many undergraduates have devoted their college career to helping the less fortunate members of the community. Over one-quarter of the student body is involved with the public service programs of Phillips Brooks House (PBH), Harvard and Neighborhood Development (HAND) and CityStep.

Now that they are seniors, several students have decided to stick with community work, unswayed by the lure of six-figure Wall Street salaries. They say they lament the lack of funds available for public service, but are pursuing their calling nonetheless.

"It is very depressing to see how many people have no direction at all, and go into investment banking and law firs, without knowing what they want to do," says Michelle D. Holdt '92.

Holdt says she became interested in pursuing a career in public service after she participated in a workshop with the Living Stage Theater Company. The Washington, D.C.-based group includes less fortunate individuals in special drama productions.

Holdt, who is a special concentrator in "drama and human development," has taught acting to young children from troubled families at a special needs classroom. Her thesis reported the affects of her program on the students.

"People here are pretty dedicated [to public service], but I wish there were more of them," Holdt says. She says she wants to "bring arts to people who are ordinarily denied them."

The Cambridge-based Stride-Rite Corporation has give Holdt the opportunity to spend this coming year following her interest. She is one of five seniors who recently received one of the company's $10,000 "Post-Graduate Incentive Grants" to help pursue careers in teaching and public service.

Greg A. Johnson '72, director of the Stride-Rite program, says Harvard undergraduates interested in public service benefit from a recent surge of corporate support for community work. the Stride-Rite program is in its fourth year. The Echoing Green program, which gives up to nine grants of $15,000 to students from seven colleges, is in its second.

These sources of funding provide an opportunity and a structure for students who want to continue working in public service, according to Johnson, who is also PBH's executive secretary.

Johnson says that students develop a long-term commitment to community work after they have has a positive experience helping someone requiring assistance.

The key is having "direct intimate contact with people in need," according to Johnson. "This provides a cathartic relationship with mutual gain."

Stride-Rite winner Joseph W. Secondine '92 agrees with Johnson's observation. "Like a lot of other people involved with PBH, I got draw into it slowly," says Secondine, who chaired the Committee on the Homeless and directed the Native American Youth Enrichment Program.

Public service went from being "a part of what I do to what I want to do for the rest of my life," he says.

With his grant, Secondine will spend next year working with the North American Indian Center of Boston to create an adult education program, which will include SAT and GED preparation, reading classes for working parents, and drop-in hours for assistance with resumes and job applications.

Although Secondine became involved with public service early during his time at Harvard, North House resident Samia Mora '92 waited until the summer after her sophomore summer before becoming actively involved.

As a counselor for the Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment (RYSE) program, Mora taught English to Vietnamese refugees living in Dorchester, Chelsea and Brighton. She took students on field trips to libraries, museums and colleges. She taught them how to use a wordprocessor and required each to write their life story.

By the end of the summer, she says she was hooked on community service.

"There is a lot of work to be done," Mora says, "and public service gives you the opportunity to create something useful, not just something to appease your own conscience."

Mora describes her experiences that summer as a volunteer and the following summer as RYSE director as "the best learning experience [she has] had at Harvard."

Next year, she will work on a public health program in Lebanon, with the Lebanese Family Planning Association. the Stride-Rite winner says she will talk about proper health care with people in the worst affected areas of the country, and that she will volunteer in health clinics in the villages.

The public service careers of Mora, Secondine and Holdt are indicative of recent trends among Harvard students, according to Gail L. Epstein, director of public service programs for Harvard College. She says that current undergraduates are more committed and involved in the programs than their predecessors.

"There has been a slight increase in numbers," Epstein says "but more importantly, students take the quality of what they do more seriously, thinking about the community implications of their programs."

LeHuyen T. Pham '92, and Echoing Green grant recipient, says that for most, Harvard students involved in public service are interested not in padding their resumes but in making significant contributions to the lives of their fellow human beings. She says they consider public service to be their lives rather than just a part of them during their undergraduate years.

"It's not just three or four hours that you spend with kids, it's not a separate part of you life, but a way to lead your life," Pham says.