Americorps Reference: Fill & Download for Free

Submit what you have. The references should submit directly to the supervisor. If you listed on the form who you requested references from, and some sort of contact information, you should be good. Best success to you!!

I love this question.When I graduated from high school, the concept of working hard didn't really sink in with me as a teenager. My parents forever said I was a “smart,” but I rarely worked on my craft. I spent a lot of time playing video games, basketball, talking on the phone with different girls, and doing everything besides focusing on school.My parents, in order to motivate me came up with positive reinforcement. They would suggest, if I did well and got at least all A’s, B’s, and maybe a C or two, I would get a new pair of shoes, or a video game console.Because the bar was set low for me, I did not work as hard as I could have as a middle and high school student.Those habits carried over into college.Playing video games, focusing on dating, and not prioritizing homework over friends and other things that could wait.Here are my grades from my first semester of universityI struggled, and I had no ambition to want to improve.Rarely did I come by a professors office to discuss lecture, or ask questions. When it came to exam time, my philosophy was “I will do better on the next test.” Except, I never did do better. It was the same pseudo-style like studying, and procrastinating until last minute to get on top of things.I could have a million excuses as to why my only A was in soccer.Where am I now?I graduated from college with a 2.76 grade point average, I majored in Sociology and had a minor in Spanish.In todays market, aside from me graduating with a college degree I don’t have much else to put down on my resume.After graduating in 2015, I spent about a year with the YMCA as an Americorps volunteer.Towards the end of my year of service, we had interviews from multiple applicants looking to fill my role.Personally, I felt as if a lot of applicants had taken advantage of their time in undergraduate school. Between the list of academic achievements, awards, extracurricular activities, volunteering, and a plethora of other accolades, they had achieved way more than I ever did during my time as a student.Fast forward a couple of months later, I now work as a researcher in a university setting.The only reason I am working in the role I am now is because of my sister, and mother being strong references (and coworkers).Internally, I still struggle with changing my habits and creating the desire of wanting to improve academically.I want to get into graduate school, but I need to focus more on the process and create healthier habits.As of now, I feel it is unrealistic to consider graduate school if I can’t live with a sense of urgency.What I find even more scary is seeing both of my nephews.I see two boys, 10 and 11 years old spending hours during the weekends, and sometimes during the school week playing video games.They might say “I have no homework,” and use that as their reasoning to play video games for an hour, two hours, or sometimes three.Its scary, because I really see them developing the same habits I had when I was their age.My biggest fear is they are going to turn out how I currently am, and end up finding out the job market has no sympathy for people who give a crap effort.

Yes I was required 4 sealed reference's, there were 4 spots and over 300 applicants. I was fortunate enough to be the second hired. I gained so much experience in the year working closely with children in rural counties. It has now been many years and I still run into the kids now grown up with families of their own. It also allowed me to return to grad school. I highly recommend it!