Find actively recruiting service year opportunities that match your goals.
Connect with people who are serving or are interested in a service year.
Learn about the organizations where you can serve.
Groups of host organizations working towards a common mission.
About Serving
About Hosting
Opportunities
Corps Members & Alums
Host Organizations
Corps Members
Network Organizations
Served with Literacy First
Nicole completed their Service Year with Literacy First in Austin, TX, US.
Nicole began serving with Literacy First in Austin, TX, US.
Nicole was enrolled with Literacy First in Austin, TX, US.
Doing a service year will provide me a chance to help someone who needs it, help an organization intent on bettering its community, and gain invaluable experience that I can use to enrich my own continuing education. I am currently in the process of finishing my bachelor’s degree in psychology and plan to continue my education by going to graduate school to become an Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapist. Additionally, having a learning disability myself has helped me to cherish, value, and appreciate education and learning. I have the ability to offer compassion, empathy, and patience to those who need it in a time of struggle. I also believe my own learning disability gives me insight which will allow me to be more useful and effective as a service year member.
My name is Nicole Scannell. I am 25 years old and currently working on finishing my Bachelor's Degree in psychology. When I am not studying, I love to read (just about anything I can get my hands on), spend time with my family and friends, and travel. I have been lucky enough to be able to travel around the USA and a few places in Europe with my family. I have two younger brothers and we were homeschooled by my mother through high school. I am grateful for homeschooling because I learned to love learning. My Mom was able to focus our studies around our interests and this allowed for natural intellectual growth. This also allowed us to take many trips during my youth that focused on history and learning. I have dyslexia and this is another reason I am grateful for my unique early education. Having been homeschooled I had the opportunity to focus on acquiring skills and behavior to help me adapt to learning environments. This allowed me to succeed in future academic settings and taught me a greater sense of compassion and empathy. In my senior year of high school, I applied to volunteer at a zoo near my home. The Brevard Zoo offered me an opportunity to spend time with a wide range of animals, which as an animal lover it was a dream come true, and interreact with children and their parents one-on-one. I divided my time between the petting zoo and as an animal handler. Both areas allowed me to interact with a wide range of both mammals and reptiles and educate the public on conservation. Nothing made me happier than seeing a child light up as they got the chance to interact with a snake or alpaca for the first time. I, unfortunately, was only able to spend a year with the zoo. After I graduated high school I got my first job and stated taking classes at a local college. I worked for Chipotle Mexican Grill for four years, the last two years as a manager. Working for Chipotle showed me that I was not afraid of hard work and the importance of teamwork. I started out making tortilla chips, working on the front line, and interacting with costumers. I caught on to that quickly and took interest in learning about the other areas of the restaurant. My managers and seasoned coworkers saw my interest and began teaching me. Within my first 6 months to a year I could open and close almost every station in the restaurant. I enjoyed the opportunities and flexibility of being able to move around and in-between each area of the restaurant. I quickly learned that I also enjoyed sharing my knowledge with new employees and luckily my managers took notice of this. I started training many of the new employees in different areas of the restaurant. Around the 6 months mark my managers started talking to me about becoming a manager myself. At the time I was working towards getting my AA degree from my local college with the hope of transferring to a university and didn’t want my job to get in the way. I ended up accepting the manager position around the beginning of my second year at Chipotle. I quickly realized having the extra responsibility would offer me a chance to thrive and have a greater influence on the training going on in the restaurant. In my time at Chipotle, I made sure to make myself available to new employees. I made sure that they could feel comfortable coming to me with questions, no matter how small. Having my own experience with dyslexia, I understood that everyone learns differently and at their own pace. Chipotle gave me the opportunity to work with people from all walks of life, from teenagers to adults. It taught me how to use my compassion and empathy with patiences and boundaries. When I received my AA in psychology from my local college in the spring of 2017 I applied for a transfer to the University of Central Florida for the fall of 2017. I was accepted and I moved to Orlando that summer. I have been attending UCF full time, focusing all my energy on finishing my Bachelor's Degree in psychology. I plan on going to graduate school and getting my Master’s degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis. I want to work one-on-one with children and young adults with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Creative, Flexible, Leader, People person , Problem solver
English
Associates Degree (AA)