Zach Johnston ’17

Back to All What MOVEs You? Spotlights

2017

Core Team, After School Games, and Service Trip Participant

What involvement did/do you have with MOVE? What program did/do you volunteer with and/or lead? What years?
I was a Team Leader for Afterschool Games from 2014- 2017, went on Extended Services trips in 2015, 2016, and 2017. I was involved with Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, and was part of many Serve-a-thons!

What’s your MOVE story?
I knew I wanted to be involved with MOVE from the moment I first visited Saint Mike’s. Service has always been a large part of my life, and to see a school with a dedicated program for service is something that really stuck out for me. I appreciated that community service wasn’t something that was just offered at the school, it was something that was closely tied with the mission of the Edmundites, and something that drew students (like me) towards it. Like many students, my first taste of the MOVE experience was with the first-year apple picking trip, and from there I dove right in. I signed up for Afterschool Games pretty early on, and as soon as I started I was hooked. I so much enjoyed having the chance to be part of the community outside of Saint Mike’s while still being involved with the Saint Mike’s community as well. It gave me a better sense of what was just outside campus while meeting so many different people and trying different things. At the end of my first year, I knew I had to stay involved and applied to be a team leader for After School Games. Through my three years as a leader, I saw the program go through many changes, as we changed our partnership from the Boys and Girls Club to Winchester Place, and I got to work with so many different students and build strong connections. I remember that a friend I made through working with VITA told me that she remembered me from her first week at the college when she signed up for After School Games and we went together to the IAA.

Starting my sophomore year, I began attending Extended Service Trips as well (the first-year version of me was not ready to be away from home for even longer than necessary). I was enamored with these trips, as they opened my eyes in so many ways. I met so many wonderful people on the trips, and I feel like there’s no better way to get to know someone than working and living together with them for a week. I was lucky enough to go to Immokalee (2015), New Orleans (2016), and La Plant South Dakota (2017). I still carry the lessons learned and the emotions experienced with me from each trip. As with my Immokalee trip, where our group made a pact to avoid eating at any restaurants that did not sign the fair food agreement (looking at you Wendy’s), and now six years later I have yet to eat at a Wendy’s. Every time I think about going into one, I remember the pre-schoolers I met and their parents, and know I can’t support a business that doesn’t support them. I gained so much perspective from these trips, and from the events and trainings I went to as a Core Team leader. I wouldn’t trade all that for anything.

In what ways did/does MOVE impact you?
I learned so much about myself, about how to lead and be an example in the service that you do. I learned to understand the viewpoints of others, to see where they’re coming from and see how you can play a part in their journey and what part they can play in yours. I learned the value of sharing moments, of teaching a kid how to play soccer, or sharing a high-five with a kid that lives on a reservation hundreds of miles from where you live. Having the opportunity to connect with so many different people, from all these different walks of life, is something that I truly appreciate. Each trip I went on taught me something about society and our role in it, whichI don’t think I otherwise would fully have understood. I know that the motto of MOVE is to Think Globally, Act Locally, but it’s just as important to gain a new global perspective before you can act accordingly. MOVE taught me that I have the ability to enact change in so many different ways, and I intend to carry that on.

If you are an alumni, what influence does MOVE continue to have on your life today?
In one way, MOVE has connected me to a program that has held my attention long since graduation. Since going on the extended service trip to La Plant, South Dakota, my mind has been unable to keep itself from traveling back there. For the next year, it was a place I couldn’t stop thinking about. I knew when the next summer came, I had to go back, so I applied to spend the summer there as an intern. I did, and I came back the following summer as well (unfortunately I have been unable to go since, due to the effects of the pandemic). This is a place I was introduced to due to my involvement with MOVE, and it’s somewhere that has been near and dear to my heart since. I have been able to spend countless hours doing the same thing that brought me to SMC in the first place, finding a sense of community in this place of caring people. I enjoyed meeting people who came from all over the country to give some time and learn something new. I learned so much about the history between the United States and the Native tribes that live here, and understand the complexities of it all so much better. I’ve had the chance to meet so many incredible individuals and bind our paths together for the short term as well as the long term. I learned so much about myself, about what I can give to others and to the world, and what brings us all together. It’s something I am so incredibly thankful for, and I owe it all to MOVE.