Haley Poitras ’19

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2019

Service Trip Participant and Little Brother/Little Sister

What involvement did/do you have with MOVE? What program did/do you volunteer with and/or lead? What years?
I was a mentor for Little Brother/Little Sister from 2015-2019 and a Co-Leader from 2016-2019. I also went on a service trip to Buffalo, NY, in January of 2018 to help in an all girls middle school.

What’s your MOVE story?
My first year at SMC I knew I wanted to be involved with the Little Brother/Little Sister program. I have always loved kids and wanted to be able to create a special bond between myself and a child in the community. I wanted to be able to be the person that they could hang out with and just be who they wanted to be. After my freshman year, I wanted to be more involved in the program than just being a mentor, which is why I decided to become a leader. I felt that I had some ideas that would be able to not only help my mentee but also help all of the other mentor/mentee pairs. Co-leading showed me that these children have endured way more than we could ever imagine. It was eye-opening to see how much these kids could really benefit from having a mentor and someone to just be there for them. Co-leading allowed me to not only have a relationship with my mentee but every other child in the program. LB/LS continues to be a big part of my life with constant memories of all the great times I got to share with my little. Each and every week the mentors would spend time laughing about all the funny things that had happened that day. Even though some days were tough, everyone always had a great story to tell.

In what ways did/does MOVE impact you?
Many of the services MOVE provides have a huge impact on the community. Being able to be a part of such a great organization has taught me the importance of getting to know your community. There are so many things that happen in the lives of those around you but until you actually get involved you will never truly understand the struggles they go through. It is so easy to see things for what they are on the surface and judge others but MOVE has taught me that it is okay to put yourself out there and be vulnerable.

If you are an alumni, what influence does MOVE continue to have on your life today?
After graduation I started graduate school and something felt like it was missing from my life. When I started to reflect back on what I had in undergrad I realized that I was missing MOVE. Being heavily involved in an amazing volunteer organization was something that I needed to try and be a part of again. When I was in MOVE, I was always working with kids and so I started to see how I could get involved in my new community. While the timing never quite worked out, the thought of volunteering continued to stay on my mind. MOVE has showed me the importance of being involved in the community, and I hope that I am able to do so in the future.

Anything else you would like to add?
MOVE is not just a program it is a family! I have made some incredible friends from being part of such an amazing community of people.