During Americorps Week we are highlighting some of our staff, who are Points of Lights themselves, who have served as Americorps members.  This whole week is committed to sharing staff inspiring service stories. Thank you for your Americorps service!

Today’s guest post is written by Jeremy Exell who found his passion for service after graduating from Michigan State University and served 3 years in AmeriCorps. He is currently working for AmeriCorps Alums in Washington, D.C.

"When I graduated from Michigan State University in 2006, I found myself with a degree in History and no idea what to do with it. I didn’t know what I was good at, what I was passionate about, what I wanted to do, basically I didn’t know me. It was a pretty scary realization. So I worked at my restaurant job for the next year, watching all my friends move away and start their careers while I continued to work my delivery job. I knew I had to make a change and try to start something but had no idea what to start. That’s when I heard about AmeriCorps. First my dad sent me an e-mail about AmeriCorps NCCC, basically a “hey check this out”. Then, shortly after, one of the guys that worked at my restaurant came back from a year of service with NCCC.

It was the perfect solution to my problem. I needed to get out of East Lansing and wanted to do work that had tangible, meaningful results. I decided to give it a shot, it may not be a career but hey, at least I’d be doing something meaningful with my time. After reporting to Perry Point for the Class XIV CTI in 2008 it took me all of 2 weeks to realize that service was where my life’s calling lay. The passion, the hardship, the vision, everything about my experience as a Corps Member that year showed me this was truly the field I wanted to work in and volunteerism was the cause I would champion. I decided I needed to learn as much as I could from AmeriCorps and develop my skills through it so I applied for and was accepted as a Team Leader position at Perry Point, Class XV. That year was one of the hardest and most rewarding years of my life. I learned so much about myself and my abilities. I was pushed every day further than I thought I could handle. Where being a Corps Member taught me about what it meant to serve through volunteering, being a Team Leader taught me how to serve through leading. My final year was as a VISTA with a small non-profit in Martinsburg, WV. I learned the ins and outs of running a non-profit in the office, working with a board of directors, recruiting volunteers, and managing grants. It was tough but again, learned more through that year than I ever could have hoped.

My time in AmeriCorps made me who I am today. The scared, lost college kid that entered service in 2008 has been replaced by a confident, impassioned member of the service community. Sure there were down times, frustrations, and hardship. But I wouldn’t trade any of my experiences for the world because they have made me who I am today. I’m proud to say I’ve served in AmeriCorps!"

Click here to read about why Americorps Week matters on the Americorps Alums blog.