First-year student recognized for service with SpartanNash scholarship

How can I serve others? This is the question at the top of Aspen Schroeder's mind in her first year at Minnesota State Moorhead.

Community engagement is one Moorhead's strategic priorities, as the campus is committed to building partnerships with the community and in the surrounding area. These connections allow students to play a part in meeting the needs of the people around them, further enhancing their educational experience in the process.

BS in Nursing (BSN) 

While service was instilled in her since she was young, she quickly found personal enjoyment in her volunteering. "My mom would take me to the local soup kitchens in middle school to volunteer," she said. "I loved that."

In high school, Aspen's community service expanded to soup kitchens, summer camps, and she became the president of her school's Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) chapter. During her time as president, the group put on fundraisers for families of people who have pediatric cancer. They also organized blood drives, including one that broke the single-day donor record in Bismarck.

"To get an entire community involved in the blood drive was awesome," Aspen says.

She was recently recognized for her service with the SpartanNash Our Family Scholarship, which recognizes students for their outstanding service to their local communities, going above and beyond serving others.

While Aspen loves volunteering in her free time, her passion for helping others became a part of her career goals when she took a health care course in her freshman year of high school. Through the class, she was able to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) in Bismarck, and currently works as a CNA in the Fargo-Moorhead area.

 Aspen is pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing, and hopes to one day be an oncologist, a doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating cancer. One of the reasons she chose MSUM is the in-person lab work and hands-on experiences that are a staple of the nursing program.

Actively being a part of a community and serving is something Aspen says supplements her academic career and shows the difference a group of people can make.

"Service teaches students life skills that complement their academics, such as empathy, problem solving, and communication," she says.

For these reasons, she sees volunteering as essential for students. Aspen has also learned time management and organizational skills through her service, which has carried over into every facet of her life.

"It has been a great way to step outside of my routine and gain new perspectives, motivating me to work harder in all areas of my life," she says.

For students, there are multiple ways to volunteer and serve on and around campus:

Letters of Love is a campus club that meets bi-weekly to write encouraging cards to children in hospitals around the world, allowing students to be a part of something big while contributing a small amount of time.

The Dragon Entertainment Group often holds events for students to make tie blankets. These blankets are free to keep or to be donated to the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center in Fargo.

MSUM's chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) partners with multiple non-profits in the area. Students can volunteer throughout the semester with organizations such as A Place For Hope, a food shelter in Moorhead, and We Rock the Spectrum, an autism-focused indoor playground and gym.

Other organizations that regularly provide service opportunities are the Delta Zeta Sorority, Dragon Veterans Club, and Student Council for Exceptional Children. All of these clubs can be found on Dragon Central.

Aspen is making the most of her experience at Moorhead by finding time to volunteer and serve others in the midst of her busy schedule. There are a number of opportunities on or near campus to choose from. So, the question remains: How can I serve others?