Ruby Corman

After graduating from Ramapo in 2013, I decided to fulfill a goal I had set for myself at the end of high school to perform a year of community service. After hearing from her about the experiences fellow Ramapo student Sydney Hopen had while serving at the AmeriCorps NCCC Pacific Region, I applied for the program myself, and happened to end up stationed at the same region she’d been, luckily for me. Joining the NCCC is likely the best choice I’ve made. It’s taken me from building houses with Habitat for Humanity in Portland, Oregon to working with the National Park Services at the intensely beautiful Point Reyes National Seashore in California, and even to the Copper River region of Alaska.

My academic background at Ramapo College gave to me the theories and understanding of society to know that change must occur in our world, but my time with AmeriCorps has shown me how important is to get out there and work with your hands; in order to produce change in the world, we have to be willing to put in the manual labor. I look forward to putting that work in for many more years. My short-term goal is to work on my qualifications to become a PeaceCorps member, and in the long term I dream of becoming a Park Ranger with the NPS.