I was at a conference last week in Calgary, Alberta, and the question was asked 'what are some good and unique things in your community'. One of the first things that came to mind was our UC Merced. To be honest I had mixed feelings about them. Working in under-resourced communities, I noticed how many of our families were pushed to the margins because of the rent increase that came when students were in need of housing. I noticed the sometimes forceful nature of opinions that the young people have and how it impacted civility in various situations. I noticed a change in our 'rural' town.

On the other hand, I am so thankful for the young people who are making a difference in our communities. We (LifeLine CDC) are in our third year of hosting UC Merced College Corps interns and what a blessing they have been. These young men and women work 10-15 hours with us every week, helping in a variety of things. They tutor our young people, they engage with our community, they translate to help people in need. They put food boxes together, help with resumes, work on our community gardens, and bring their full self with them. To me, that is priceless. I see a UC student interact with a child and help them dream of going to college. I see UC students come up with science projects that teach our kids physics. I see UC students put mental health care worksheets together for our community to thrive. I see UC students research gardening and help our community gardens, and so much more.

And we get to influence our UC students as well. Often their learning is very academic, so putting it into practice, and learning to engage with people who are different from themselves, teaches them compassion, empathy, and patience. When they learn to do research for specific projects, they learn how to teach in a way that everyone understands, and cement their knowledge into real life situations.

One of our UC students helped us start a school garden, he did not know much about gardening when he started, but by the end of the his second year, he and the students had a thriving garden and he taught 300+ first and second graders how to grow vegetables. In the end he changed his major to become a teacher!!! And he will be a good one.

While the UC has changed our community, the students are impacting our world in a thousand creative ways, and we are so thankful for this generation to invest in their community. Can we say we have a symbiotic relationship? We need each other to learn, grow, and be better together.