Student shares a fulfilling experience working for Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning

Parimal Vyas proudly standing beside the Center for Community Engagement and Service marker.

What makes a job rewarding? For some, it’s the salary. For others, it’s the prestige. For Parimal Vyas, it’s the positive impact that he creates for his fellow students and for the community.

Vyas is a student worker at the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CESL). He assists with planning, executing, and recruiting volunteers for service learning projects like September Service Saturdays, Holiday Helper, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, and Bring it Back to Normal. After each of the service projects, students are asked to reflect. For him, the best part of the job is when students realize the importance of being an active part of the community.

“The most rewarding thing about working for the CESL is hearing students talk about how the work helped them realize volunteering can benefit the community and how they want to volunteer again in the future,” Vyas said.

Vyas is a senior actuarial science major. Prior to working for the CESL, he worked for the Dean of Students Office as a community service student specialist. He said community work might be different from the career he is pursuing, but this gave him a different kind of experience and learning about life.

“This job has helped me become more appreciative of the opportunities I have and are available,” he said. “I know that everyone comes from different background and might not have the same opportunity as I have.”