Stories of service demonstrate concern for community

By Rebecca Rakoczy

 
 

Georgia Perimeter College students are making a difference outside the classroom, taking time to impact their communities in ways large and small. These four students’ stories of service are a small sampling of the commitment to volunteerism and service learning that thrives in GPC’s culture of giving back.

 

 

“Giving back and helping others is just a no-brainer.”

 

Every weekend on his rounds as a Grady EMS paramedic with Grady Health Systems, Lyndon Jones sees and treats the injuries and illnesses of homeless men and women, whether they are living in Atlanta’s shelters, under bridges or by the railroad tracks. It’s his job, but it’s also his avocation.

 

“For me, giving back and helping others is just a no-brainer,” says Jones, a GPC alumnus who recently was an Honors student studying pre-nursing on Newton Campus.

 

Jones’ philosophy is not limited to his work. It extends to his three children, who all volunteer at homeless shelters and collect toys and clothing for underprivileged children.  It extends to his college studies, where he lends a hand to classmates. All Honors students should be involved in mentoring other GPC students, keeping them focused on their studies, he says.

 

“Lyndon goes out of his way to mentor other students,” says Dr. Salli Vargis, who has witnessed Jones’ compassion in action—in the classroom and as a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

 

Jones’ commitment to others was reinforced early in his career while working for a private emergency medical service in a Manhattan borough. It was a regular morning, and he was scheduled to work from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m.

 

It was Sept. 11, 2001.

 

“One of the dispatchers yelled over the radio that she thought a bomb exploded in one of the Twin Towers. We already had a crew under the Twin Towers; I drove into Manhattan, and we stayed until 1 a.m. the next day, doing triage with other rescue workers,” Jones says. Jones recalls picking up a priest with a broken leg and taking him to safety near the Manhattan waterfront, where other EMS units had set up a triage area.

 

“You know the story about Sodom and Gomorrah? Well, it was like that after the first tower fell. It was black; we couldn’t breathe … we couldn’t look back at the towers,” Jones says. “We had to stay and help.”

 

A Trinidad native who became a resident alien in 2005, Jones says he felt the repercussions of that day for years, particularly in New York City. “We lived under heightened security alert all the time; that’s not the way to live or raise a family.”

 

Jones moved with his wife to Rockdale County in 2006 to be closer to his wife’s family. He began his studies at GPC in 2009 and transferred this spring to Clayton State University to pursue his bachelor’s degree in nursing.

 

Despite dealing with the devastation of the World Trade Center attack, Jones says he was perhaps even more “shell-shocked” when he first saw downtown Atlanta’s large homeless population and the number of women and children in the shelters.

 

“It is very disheartening and very disturbing,” he says. Active in his church’s community service, he often brings his family downtown to volunteer at homeless shelters and soup kitchens.  Everyone in his family goes through their clothing and toys every season, packing up gently used or unworn items for underprivileged children and adults.

 

Teaching his own children about giving back is important, says Jones. “I want them to know that helping others is more important than receiving. They need to know that other people are not doing as well.”

 

 

 

“It was a wakeup call. I did not want this to happen to even my worst enemy. This was not right.”

 

At 18, Kelsey Upton has become an activist. She spoke at an anti-bullying summit in Washington, D.C. She has appeared on local and national television and was featured in Seventeen magazine as part of panel sponsored by the magazine and ABC broadcasting network. Her involvement has allowed her to mingle with television stars who support her cause.

 

But Upton, a GPC Dual Enrollment student, never expected to land in the spotlight. She found herself there after she became the victim of cyber bullying, an all-too-common occurrence characterized by malicious postings on the Internet.

 

Upton is not staying a victim, however. She is working actively to increase awareness of the problem and seek a solution.

 

Upton found out about the cyber bullying when a text appeared on her cell phone in November 2010. A 55-year-old Iowa man had contacted her after finding the teen’s name and phone number on a pornographic website next to a photo that resembled her.

 

Upton was afraid and shocked.  Who would do this, and why?

 

She went to her parents, and her father contacted the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The GBI identified the person who posted Upton’s information—he was the former boyfriend of one of Upton’s friends. But, according to the GBI, he could not be charged with a crime. There is currently no law in Georgia—and few in the nation—that applied to Upton’s situation.

 

Upton decided to fight back, sharing her story with local and national media. “I had heard of cyber bullying before this all happened, but never been involved in it,” she says. “When it happened to me, it was a wakeup call. I did not want this to happen to even my worst enemy. This was not right.”

 

She was invited to speak at an anti-bullying summit in Washington as part of a teen panel for Seventeen magazine’s “Delete Digital Drama” campaign, and in January, Seventeen magazine interviewed her again for a follow-up story.

 

Upton also served as part of a national WiredSafety panel.

 

State Rep. Pam Dickerson (D-Conyers) took up the cause and worked to bring more attention to what happened to Upton.

 

In January, Dickerson introduced legislation to make it a misdemeanor to use the likeness or face of a minor on a pornographic website. The bill ended the 2012 legislative session in committee.

 

 “I was trying to be specific to what happened to her (Upton), especially since she was a minor,”  says Dickerson. “Essentially, we are trying to prevent this from happening to any citizen in the state of Georgia. At this time, there are not any laws to protect our citizens.

 

“Ms. Upton had sexual predators calling her,” Dickerson said. “This type of action doesn’t affect you—unless it’s your child.”

 

 

 

“It’s both a learning experience and a way to give back and participate in the community we live in.”

 

Maya Collins’  motto may seem atypical of many teens her age. “I think you need to work hard and relax tomorrow,” she says. Collins, who is attending college early through Georgia’s Move On When Ready program, juggles a full load of college courses at GPC’s Newton Campus. Yet, the chemistry major makes it a point of getting involved inside and outside of school, taking time to volunteer at Newton Medical Center and at the Ronald McDonald House near Emory University—and serving as a member of the student government on campus.

 

As a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House, she plays with children and makes arts and crafts; at Newton Medical, she learned to take blood pressure readings. “I really like the one-on-one experience with the patients and families,” she says.

 

A recipient of the Edmond T. Kemp Seeds of Promise scholarship, Collins hopes to become a doctor, so her service at the hospital is a natural extension of that interest. But the Oxford teen believes that staying involved in her community is important, no matter what the reason.

 

“I think it’s really important to give back to the community … my sister often volunteers with me,” Collins says. “Although my parents didn’t ‘make’ us volunteer, we all agree it’s important. It’s both a learning experience and a way to give back and participate in the community we live in.”

 

The teen doesn’t plan on letting up on her community commitment anytime soon, despite being accepted into Georgia Tech this fall. There, she plans to major in chemistry, try out for the college track team as a shot putter and continue to volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House.

 

“Maya had been impressive on paper, and she was even more impressive in person,” says Jerrie Brooks, an administrator for the Seeds of Promise scholarship.

 

“We were pleased to discover that she is a scholar and an athlete and is sincerely interested in community service.  She seems to be the total package,” Brooks says.

 

 

 

Shockwaves from the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan packed an emotional blow to the GPC community, as students, faculty and staff learned the fate of loved ones impacted by the disaster.

 

Erich Schuler was determined to do something.

 

As president of the Japan Club on Dunwoody Campus, the GPC sophomore already had been involved in helping the college become more aware of Japanese culture through special events on international festival days. The general studies major, whose mother is Japanese-American, was stunned by the number of deaths—more than 16,000—and the impact of the disaster on students, faculty and staff at the college.

 

“It affected so many people in the college personally, with many friends and family over there. We wanted to do something right away,” Schuler says. Almost 100 people joined the club, and the group raised more than $2,000 for tsunami relief in a matter of days.

 

“I really was excited so many people wanted to help,” Schuler says.  As part of the effort to bring awareness about the disaster, the club also invited students, faculty and staff to make 1,000 origami cranes. The cranes were given as a gift by GPC to the Atlanta office of the Consulate General of Japan and displayed during the annual Japan Fest at Gwinnett Convention Center in the fall.

 

Schuler came to GPC from Montana in 2009 and has been active in the college since he first arrived on the Dunwoody Campus in 2010.

 

In the fall of 2011, he became the second student in the college’s history to be accepted as an intern with the Atlanta office of the Consulate General of Japan. In his role there, Schuler has helped publicize Operation Tomodachi, a cooperative agreement between the United States and Japan highlighting relief efforts for the devastating March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

 

This spring, Schuler is working with others to complete a Japanese garden on the Dunwoody campus and is looking forward to putting on a Japanese festival at the college.

 

There is no substitute for giving back to others, he says.

 

“Giving back to your community is so important. It makes you more informed about what is going on in your community and what its needs are … Even when I’m finished working at the consulate, I’m going to seek out more opportunities to get involved.”