Service Learning

When Kate Kelley ’06 took the court for her second season with the Bentley women’s basketball team, she was determined to bounce back from a disappointing freshman year.

“I had played less than a minute,” Kelley remembers. “Coach Stevens said, ‘Make me play you. If you’re good enough, you’ll play.’”

She stepped up to the challenge, and finished her career as co-captain of a Falcons team that was ranked nationally.

Determination and basketball are again in play for Kelley’s latest endeavor: helping youth in Rwanda to heal after a decade of genocide.

When 20-somethings travel to Florida in March, spring break parties are often involved. But for best friends and Class of 2006 alumni David Sutton and Bobby Goldstein, an annual trip to Boynton Beach is a special time to contribute to the community.

Dominique Miles ’11 arrived on campus packing ambitions to be a pioneer of change. “I was always told that I could be anything I wanted to be,” she recalls of growing up in Atlanta, Ga. “Nothing was impossible.”

That message of empowerment is one that Miles aims to deliver to women elsewhere in the world. She already has a well-stamped passport, thanks to global programs at Bentley.

Her journey started with a short-term study abroad program in the North African country of Morocco.

For winter break, Bentley senior Daniel Merica enjoyed a well-deserved reward: a family vacation to Hawaii. His days were filled with sun, sand and relaxation — until January 12 at 11:53 a.m. (HST).

While many people have experienced a life-changing moment, Bentley National Service Scholars Tara Meehan ’09 and Jenna Nakamura ’10 had a life-changing year.

Rebecca (Roseme) Obounou ’06 knew even as a young girl that her mission would be to help those less fortunate. That commitment recently helped to earn the alumna a 2010 Achievers Award from the YMCA of Greater Boston.

“I am humbled,” Obounou says of the honor. “I felt like I must be dreaming. This is a big deal.”

Students give a year, gain opportunity

The increased call for social responsibility has organizations hunting for leaders with a keen sense of civic duty. A new partnership between Bentley and City Year aims to groom those leaders, by making service a more central part of the academic experience.

It’s hard to believe that someone like Hannah Stewart ’12 could ever feel alone. A bubbly, 21-year-old Information Design and Corporate Communication major at Bentley, Stewart gets good grades and juggles membership in several student groups. But she remembers the isolation of growing up with a learning disability.

Prashanth Gubbala ’08 grew up giving back. Raised in a family that stressed the importance of helping others, he is applying these lessons as a Peace Corps volunteer in the southeast African country of Malawi.

The former Finance major had always planned to work in international development, but wanted to approach the field from a business standpoint. He spent two years as an investment banking analyst before the Peace Corps beckoned with its global focus, two-year term and business program.

As a combat infantry Marine in the Vietnam War, Ernest Washington ’73 fought to clear a safe path for others to follow. As a mentor, advocate and entrepreneur, he’s still at it.

"In combat, you make a lot of promises to yourself,” says Washington, a native of Roxbury, Mass., and owner of Vanguard Parking Services. “Mine was, ‘If I'm lucky enough to get out of here alive, I'll do whatever I can to help my community.’”