The Center for Social Concern and the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service invited students interested in doing a year of service to speak with former volunteers and discuss their fears or excitement for the upcoming experience.

Participants received a free lunch and reflection materials in Liberty Hall on Monday as they prepared for spending a year volunteering.

Although UD does not have any post-graduate service programs, it does have "relationships with amazing

programs, as well as connections with the Catholic Network of Volunteer

Service," said Clare Strockbine, a graduate assistant for the Center for Social Concern who spent two years volunteering in Ecuador.

"The reality is there is suffering and poverty everywhere, from East Dayton to East Asia," Strockbine said. "There is a program out there for everyone, if you look for it in the right spirit and with an open mind and heart."

One of the most common misconceptions

is that volunteering puts one behind in the workplace against other candidates, said Strockbine.

"Gaining experience (often in a different

field than what one has studied) ... having a greater variety of skills ... these things actually set a volunteer apart from other job applicants and gives him/her a leg up on the competition,"

she said.

Katie Eddingfield, a senior who hopes to volunteer with children in Honduras, said people often think that volunteering is simple.

"It's hard," she said. "There are always going to be difficulties and struggles, you just have to stay positive,

place your trust in God and work through them."

James McDermott, a senior who is hoping to be accepted into the Lalanne

program or another program that puts teachers in urban schools, is hesitant about leaving his friends and family for the first time.

"Because I am from Dayton, I never really left my hometown," McDermott said. "Now, I predict I would have some of the same feelings others would have about leaving their hometown for the first time. I believe I will probably cry when I say goodbye to certain people."

However, even with these anxieties

and hardships, the students believe that the experience will change their lives.

Eddingfield is excited for the journey

that lies ahead.

"I have thought so much about all of this and realized that although I might have some fears, I know that the amazing experience that awaits me trumps all of those fears," she said.

The spiritual growth is a very exciting

prospect for McDermott.

"It would mean so much to me that I could give up other career and vocational

plans in order to grow closer to Christ because that is what serving others is ultimately about," he said.