Mindy Stevens, Guide

MindyGuideMy name is Mindy Stevens and I was born and raised in Garden Grove, Orange County, CA. After graduating from high school in 2013 I decided to take a nontraditional path and join AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC), as oppose to going to college, military, or the workforce. I served two terms with NCCC from October 2013 – July 2014, and then again from October 2014 – July 2015. I was based out of Sacramento, CA for both of my terms. On July 23, 2015 I graduated from AmeriCorps NCCC and I am currently in the process of starting new chapters in my life.

I chose this path because community service has always been a strong passion of mine since 7th grade when I joined Junior National Honor Society and then eventually Key Club. I also was unsure of what I wanted to get out of college or what I would even major in. Through AmeriCorps NCCC I earned 2 Education Awards that will help make college more affordable for me, while I was gaining valuable professional, work, and life skills. Without my terms of service I don’t think I would have ever discovered my passion for the environment and conservation, and I want to use my newfound passions to earn a degree in Landscape Architecture and Botany. I plan on beginning college the spring of 2016 to pursue this career path.

While in the program I traveled to 6 states and worked with 9 different Sponsor Organizations that focused in a wide variety of backgrounds; all within 20 months. I did everything from trail building in the forest, working in an urban high school garden, preparing taxes for low to moderate income families, to building homes with a housing coalition and Habitat for Humanity.
To hear more about my life in AmeriCorps NCCC, here is a link to an article I recently wrote on LinkedIn as I started to reflect and look back on my terms of service. My story begins as a confused senior in high school without direction or purpose, and describes how AmeriCorps helped me grow and find that motivation and drive to succeed.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/story-graduating-from-americorps-nccc-mindy-stevens?trk=prof-post