A Journey of Growth: Skye Cronje’s Year with Notre Dame AmeriCorps
Meet Skye Cronje, an inspiration whose transformative journey with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps (NDMVA) showcases the profound personal and professional growth that volunteers can achieve through dedicated services. Since 1995, NDA has been a partner with AmeriCorps, to create a positive impact in the community, with focus on education and literacy, and aims to engage citizens in vital community services. In this testimonial, Skye shares her experiences and the significant impact her year of service has had on her life and the community she served.
A Year of Personal and Professional Growth and Development
I became inspired to join AmeriCorps after being connected to the program through my professional experiences while studying for my undergrad at Stetson University. I first learned about the program after hearing stories from former AmeriCorps members when I interned at Hope CommUnity Center in 2021. The members emphasized how serving with AmeriCorps changed their lives and how they found a sense of belonging throughout their service. Galvanized by their stories, I realized how impactful it would be to take a gap year and serve with AmeriCorps after college. After graduating from Stetson University in 2023, I applied to the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers AmeriCorps program in Apopka and was placed at St. Andrew Catholic School.
As an NDMVA member at St. Andrew Catholic School, I served as an instructional assistant for K-8 students. I worked with students one-on-one and in small groups, providing them with academic and social-emotional support. My involvement extended beyond the school day, including after school and during special functions. On Mondays, I volunteered with CreativeU – an afterschool art program that uses visual and performing arts to explore social issues, identity, and empowerment. In CreativeU, I offered social emotional support to students exploring their identity through art. This program was particularly rewarding as it not only allowed me to offer positive encouragement, but also to express myself and my creativity to model to other students.
My experience at St. Andrew Catholic School taught me my strengths and weaknesses. I utilized my skills and strengths to work with diverse backgrounds, bring positive energy, and empower youth. However, I faced many challenges throughout my service. One issue was that I tried to be a perfectionist and tended to get stressed out even over the smallest things. At one point, I got so stressed that students and staff were worried about me. Fortunately, the principal, AmeriCorps staff, and I met and discussed how to manage stressful situations and set healthy boundaries. The principal, the AmeriCorps Apopka site manager, and I planned weekly check-in meetings to discuss enjoyable and stressful moments and future plans and aspirations. My mental health showed drastic improvement after setting these boundaries and meeting weekly. I finished the rest of the school year on a positive note, with memorable moments etched into my mind.
I would describe my service year as one of personal and professional growth and development. My service experience at St. Andrew Catholic School was life-changing, and I learned so much about others and myself. Networking opportunities, practicing many languages [Spanish, Haitian Creole, etc.], and relationship building opened up due to my service. I built and strengthened meaningful connections with the students and many staff members. I also learned how to work with staff with different personalities, where we sometimes disagreed on the same concepts.
Although it was stressful, I managed to overcome this major obstacle. In the future, I understand that I will have to learn to work with different personalities and individuals who do not necessarily agree with my values. Overall, the staff—even those with whom I did not have a strong relationship—appreciated my service, and I felt a sense of gratitude and motivation to finish the service year strong.
Words cannot describe my gratitude for committing to a service year with AmeriCorps. I learned so much about others, the community I worked in, and myself. I demonstrated significant improvement in leadership, communication, and most importantly, self-advocacy. My experience taught me how to advocate for myself regarding boundaries, obstacles, and enjoyable moments. In the fall, I will attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota to study Human Rights at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. I am ecstatic about this new chapter of my life, and I look forward to utilizing what I learned throughout my service year to rock it in graduate school and my future life.”
