When Melissa Weston served on the Remembrance Scholar selection committee, she never expected to learn about an organization that would inspire her to follow a career path.

“A potential scholar was involved in City Year and wrote highly of the program in one of his application essays,” said Weston, a corps member and learning and development coordinator at City Year New York, in an email. “I thought ‘let me check this out’ and fell in love with the program. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

Students like Weston, also a 2012 Syracuse University graduate, have helped make SU one of the top 10 “feeder schools” for City Year’s 2012 corps.

City Year is an organization that works to help students stay on track for their high school graduation at schools across the United States. Eighteen SU alumni were hired as first-year corps members in 2012. In 2011, City Year hired 10 SU alumni, said Melanie Brennand Mueller, City Year’s vice president of recruitment and admissions, in an email.

Mueller said students’ enthusiasm to get involved with community service is what makes SU students a great fit for City Year.

“They possess the qualities that we look for in applicants, such as being actively involved on campus, working with diverse groups of people and having experience with community service and youth work,” Mueller said.

Mueller said City Year has prioritized recruiting at SU in the past few years based on previous success hiring SU alumni and the support of campus officials.

The organization is actively involved with the campus, taking part in career fairs, networking events and leading workshops at SU, Mueller said.

In addition, City Year secured a partnership with the School of Education that provides 33-percent tuition scholarships to any City Year alumni who are admitted to the School of Education, she said.

Applications and the hiring of SU students has significantly increased in the past few years because the organization has focused on its recruitment efforts and has developed a stronger presence on campus, Mueller said.

The organization has hired SU alumni for staff positions across the City Year Network from different backgrounds and majors, Mueller said.

“They bring their diverse academic experiences and career interests to our public schools, where they serve as tutors, mentors and role models for the students we serve,” she said.

Weston, the City Year member, said she was heavily involved in community service during her time at SU and wanted to continue working with nonprofit organizations after graduation.

Weston works with seventh-graders as an in-class assistant, math tutor and mentor at Intermediate School 126Q, in Long Island City, Queens.

“My job is to make sure that the students are set up for success,” Weston said. “Even something simple like making sure the students have a pencil and paper goes a long way.”

Weston said she believes that SU’s emphasis on community service instills a sense of giving within its students that transcends their time at SU.

“SU does an amazing job at being connected with the community and encouraging students to explore past the boundaries of campus,” Weston said. “I never really understood what Scholarship in Action meant while I was a student, but now I’m living it.”

Published on December 6, 2012 at 3:00 am

Contact Alexandra: adhitzle@syr.edu | @LexieHitzler