The 2020 GEJ Scholars are selected as they exemplify LAJF’s mission of fostering a lifelong commitment to compassionate and responsible leadership for the betterment of our communities. Over the coming months, we will feature the 2020 GEJ Scholars so that you can get to know them. To learn more about this and other opportunities for CRS alums, please visit our website. Read our blog today to learn about how Jackie Voluz ‘07, ‘08, ‘11, and Tyshaya Pearce ‘14 take steps towards a more just world using their backgrounds in social work and criminal justice.
Jackie Voluz ‘07, ‘08
A New York Native, Jackie ‘07, ‘08, ‘11, will be attending Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College this year as a first-year master’s student, after completing her undergraduate degree in International Studies at Middlebury College in 2014.
Jackie has been working as a program coordinator at the Watson Foundation since 2018, a charitable trust that provides funding and support for undergraduates seeking to expand their education through fellowships and internship programs. In this position, Jackie works closely with college students to provide the same opportunities for introspection, action, and shared reflection that she first found at Camp, as well as encourage them to seek opportunities internationally and outside of their comfort zones. Jackie says that CRS opened not only her mind but also her heart. Ever since she has been pursuing a commitment to accepting people holistically for serving in the face of an unjust world.
As a GEJ scholar, Jackie plans to continue pursuing her goals and to one day be able to put her Master of Social Work to good use as a facilitator, teacher, writer, and service provider. She hopes to serve many different groups of people, including low-income, queer, international, and elderly individuals throughout her career, based on principles of mutual trust and radical acceptance.
Jackie is determined to bring the personal narrative that was launched during her time at CRS full circle and to “think global and act local,” as her fellow campers taught her. In order to do this, she has participated in a variety of political and civic education initiatives centered around the mobilization of antiracist movements and education training. She hopes to continue to grow in her own knowledge and experience of civic engagement and pass on these learnings to younger generations through her family and work.
What are your thoughts after receiving the GEJ Scholarship and how will the scholarship contribute to your future goals and plans?
I was so thankful to receive the GEJ Scholarship because it fuels my studies with a sense of purpose and continuity. I plan to keep my experiences with the CRS community front of mind throughout my social work degree, because I seek to deepen my skills in growth-minded youth work and leadership development. I hope that in time, I will have the opportunity to serve the CRS community for another summer, and for future selection cycles, informed by social work's unique approaches to the relationship between individuals and their community.
Do you have any tips for prospective applicants to the scholarship or CRS? Do you have any advice for younger students in general?
As I tell many college students completing fellowship and scholarship applications, the hardest step is the first step: being proactive and finding opportunities that fit your needs, interests, and goals. Luckily, GEJ is already an incredible fit for every alumnus, so it's certainly worth a shot! More generally, I recommend searching profellow.com for opportunities, showing your essay drafts to someone for a fresh perspective, and filling those essays with strong, thoughtful "I" statements so that you are giving the selection committee a sense of who you are. Optimally, you will have given them a glimpse of your past, present, and future by the end of your narrative, and answered all questions from the prompts. I will also plug for a moment the Watson fellowships for any current college students in CUNY or at our partner liberal arts schools- please feel free to reach out if you're interested!
Tyshaya Pearce ‘14
Tyshaya is a CRS alumna from 2014 and a senior at Rutgers University. A criminal justice and political science double major, Tyshaya hopes to one day be a part of the criminal justice system, either as a member of the New York Police Department or a prosecuting attorney, helping others who have struggled throughout their lives to rehabilitate and reach their goals.
Through her experience visiting correctional facilities in the Northeast, Tyshaya gained a new perspective on the prison system in the United States and began to develop a passion for helping incarcerated individuals find new opportunities to expand their education and get back on their feet emotionally and financially. She believes that prisoners should not have to spend their whole lives stuck in the past, and that they deserve a chance to re-evaluate who they are and who they want to be. Tyshaya also wants to found an organization to help at-risk youth who struggle with school or family issues to provide an outlet for expression and encouragement to not give up. Eventually, she would like to be able to provide financial support and assistance for students to pay for college, as she understands that finances can be a significant obstacle to higher education and success in general.
Tyshaya takes pride in her ability to be independent and self-motivated, traits she says were helped developed through her time at Camp. Although it was difficult being away from home, the experience pushed her outside of her comfort zone and forced her to take on new responsibilities and initiative in her own life. From learning how to do laundry to socializing and understanding people from different countries, Tyshaya says that the skills she picked up at CRS have helped her throughout her adult life, and she no longer fears being on her own.
There are still many steps that Tyshaya has to take to reach her goals, but she says that she is confident that she will be able to follow through with her plans. “I applied for the GEJ Scholarship three times, and I did not receive it,” she says. “But I never gave up and managed to finally receive it for my senior year.” Above all, she encourages high school students and college students like her to never give up and continue striving to be their authentic selves.
What are your thoughts after receiving the GEJ Scholarship and how will the scholarship contribute to your future goals and plans?
The GEJ Scholarship definitely has released a lot of financial stress for my senior year at Rutgers as I am able to just focus on my last two semesters and beginning to decide what job offer will I take. If it was not for the scholarship, I will be more worried about how I am going to pay for my last two semesters rather than focusing on my academics. I also don’t do well under pressure.
Do you have any tips for prospective applicants to the scholarship or CRS? Do you have any advice for younger students in general?
My only tip for the prospective applicants is to be authentic and never give up. I applied for the scholarship three times, and I did not receive it. I never gave up, and I did it again for my senior year in which I did receive it. I was being myself in my application and believe that one’s words can transmit emotions.