Jessica Rivera
Myself Third Spirit of New York 2002 Scholarship Winner
Robert F. Kennedy Community High School
Queens College
"During Jessica's years at Robert F. Kennedy, she has proven to be responsible, smart, respectful, and cooperative with her peers.… In her first year, she volunteered at Flushing Hospital.… In her second year, we asked her to be a mentor to a group of tenth graders. We were able to link service learning to many of the New York State Learning Standards. Our product was a garden and greenhouse on school property. Jessica helped the tenth graders with their research projects, technology, and kept them on task by acting as a buddy."
—Michael Buzzeo, Music, Service Learning Coordinator
Work, Volunteer, and Extra-Curricular Activities
- Flushing Hospital
- Mentoring/ Community Garden
- All Remembrance March
- Coat Drive
Excerpts from Jessica's Essay
I feel that voting is a very important obligation that everyone should partake in as citizens. It gives people a chance to have a voice in politics that can help shape their city and country. Helping your community, I feel, is the basis of civic responsibility. Voting reflects this by giving power to those who can improve the community along with its residents.
I have been attending a community high school for almost four years now and it has given me valuable experiences that will stay with me throughout my life. The community service work that I have done has helped to shape who I am. I think that giving back to society helps build strong foundations for a better future for humanity.… When you live in society, interacting with your peers is crucial. When you work together you can achieve anything.
This past year an event occurred that changed everyone's life in America. After September eleventh, civic responsibility has became more important then ever. It has had a huge impact on my life, as I am sure it has on others. When we were attacked, it was clearer than ever that helping one another was the only option to pull through from such an ordeal. The country came together and really stepped up to what was essential to recover. People understood that this was a time to take our civic obligations more seriously. People throughout New York volunteered to help get through this enormous test of humankind. I tried to do as much as I could. My school also took part in serving the cause. Along with my school, I conducted a fundraiser to help firemen and organized a march to our local firehouse. We had a small ceremony to pay tribute to the heroes lost in the tragedy. The ceremony was carried out by the release of red, white and blue balloons with prayers and thank-you notes enclosed. I took this experience very seriously. I felt that it was a smooth transition into the healing process for all of us. I became aware that by coming together we helped each other within the community cope.
