Elon’s Year of Service Fellows program allows recent Elon graduates to spend a year working in the Alamance County community.
Six Elon University alumni are wrapping up their time as Year of Service Fellows, an opportunity through the university’s Student Professional Development Center that allows recent graduates to work at local organizations to improve health, education and economic development in the Alamance County community.
“It’s been a really valuable experience,” said Mollie Lund ’24, a Year of Service Fellow with the For Alamance Initiative of Impact Alamance, a community health legacy foundation created from the merger of Alamance Regional Medical Center and Cone Health. “It’s important for other students to consider, especially if you’re not sure what direction to go in. You can get that direction while building your professional and personal skills along the way.”
The Year of Service Fellows program is committed to promoting equity, fostering community service, building authentic relationships, addressing community needs, and being a catalyst for transformative and sustained change in the Alamance community.
The current fellows include Lund, Julia Burpeau ’24, Nicole McGinty ’24, Nyjah Rollins ’24, Nolan Schreiner ’24 and Freida Walsh-Seaman ’24, who began the program in June 2024 following the signing ceremony in May of that year.
Placements in the Year of Service Fellows program include Alamance Achieves, Alamance County Health Department, Cone Health/ARMC, City of Burlington Economic Development Department, the For Alamance Initiative and Impact Alamance.
Stories ‘rising from community’
Lund earned a bachelor’s degree in international and global studies and professional writing and rhetoric. Seeing Lund’s interest in the nonprofit sector during her first year at Elon, Professor of English Paula Rosinki pointed her to the Year of Service Fellows program.
The For Alamance Initiative of Impact Alamance works to “generate community-led transformation on concerns that matter to people” in the community and “strengthen the civic culture of Alamance County.”
Lund has been able to use her professional writing and rhetoric skills to create content for the organization including press releases, social media, newsletters and more. She also is part of the narrative team which works to highlight stories that are “rising out of community” and show positive progress.
One of the stories Lund wrote focused on a community conversation, hosted through the initiative, about the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated men.
“It was really cool and I learned so much,” said Lund. “It was something important I was excited to share with the rest of the community.”
Making an impact
With a degree in exercise science and a minor in public health studies, Julia Burpeau ’24 says her Elon education was rooted in community and was a good foundation for her work as a fellow with Cone Health. Specifically, the Exercise and Intervention course, taught by Lecturer Elizabeth Bailey, focused on using knowledge to make a community impact. Her education blended well with her role as a Year of Service Fellow with Cone Health.
Burpeau has helped the health system with its campaign to raise money for the United Way, allowing her to see the myriad of connections throughout the Alamance County community. She was also able to get a better understanding of hospital operations, something she says will be useful as an aspiring doctor.
“One thing I’ve loved about this position is the shadowing opportunities and the mentorship aspect,” she said. “I shadowed a female cardiologist and some other physicians around the hospital and others in the greater Greensboro area and it’s helped me figure out what field in health care I’m most interested in.”
A perfect cap
Nolan Schreiner says the Year of Service Fellows program has been a perfect cap on his time in the Alamance and Elon communities before he heads off to law school later this year.
“It’s incredible how many people are engaged in the community and how many avenues there are,” said Schreiner, who is working with the City of Burlington. “It’s definitely been a way to get out of the bubble and learn all about the business leaders and community leaders.”
Schreiner has been working on two major projects with the City of Burlington and Alamance County. The first is a Brownfields Grant through the Environmental Protection Agency that is focused on cleaning up potentially contaminated sites in Alamance County. The second is working with the Agricultural Extension Board to help optimize zoning in the county.
Schreiner earned a degree in political science with a minor in communications, which he says was helpful when it came to this work.
“In the political science department, there was a lot of high-level thinking,” said Schreiner. “And when you’re working with things like zoning or the Brownfields grant, there’s a lot of detailed minutiae. So, it helped me keep the frame of mind of ‘What is the end goal?’”
The next cohort of the Year of Service Fellows will start in June 2025. More information on the application process can be found on the Student Professional Development Center website.