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Leavey School of Business Santa Clara University

Community Fellows Blog Posts

Madi Clelland: The Power of Saying Yes!

Madi discusses her year working at Cristo Rey, and why she is thankful for the experience.

Looking back on my year at Cristo Rey, I have become engaged in a community in a way that I didn’t know was possible going in to this experience.  I have, not only, gotten to know my co-workers on a personal level, but have met many students who make me so excited to be a part of the Cristo Rey community.  While learning valuable business skills through my Salesforce and engagement projects, I have also strengthened my communication skills and formed strong bonds in all aspects during this opportunity.

Throughout the entire year, one of my main goals had been to interact more with the students on a daily basis.  This past quarter, I have had the opportunity to drive students back to school after their work day. Every Thursday afternoon, I get in a giant white van, drive into downtown San Jose and pick up 8 sophomore students from a bus stop.  The first few times, I was so nervous that I didn’t even turn the radio on and we all just sat in silence. As I started to learn the students’ faces and remember their names, it became a much more boisterous drive. While, at first, I didn’t quite know how I could turn this specific instance into a lesson or a new skill learned, that quickly changed the more I had time to reflect on it.  I have realized that deciding to, simply, say yes when asked to do tasks, like drive the students, led me to incredible experiences. So many times, I have thought about what type of risk a decision has associated with it especially in regards to career. It took a lot of courage to start saying yes to everything at Cristo Rey; but once I did, I realized that there were more opportunities and experiences than I could have imagined.

This year at Cristo Rey has been an experience that I am so thankful for and will never forget.  I have learned a lot about myself and the nonprofit world. Although I don’t plan on working in the nonprofit sector post graduation, I know that it is something that I want to continue to be a part of in any way that I can.

NPI, NPI Fellows