I am a Bepko Scholar, so I highly value service in the community. The location I have spent most of time volunteering is Cats Haven, which is a no-kill, free-range animal shelter that houses around 90 felines with disabilities. Most of the cats have been rescued from euthanasia because of their old age, visual or auditory impairments, physical restrictions like missing limbs, immune system disorders, or cerebellum impairments that make them wobble around when they move. Volunteering at Cats Haven has given me an appreciation for the therapeutic qualities of animals, prompting me to seek involvement with therapy animals in the future.

Since the time that I was very small, I always wanted a cat. I would beg my parents for one, but they never caved. Cats Haven has filled my void for feline affection. Volunteering at Cats Haven is more than just cleaning out litter boxes and refilling water dishes. There is a mutual respect between the cats and the humans—a co-therapy in which the cats receive much-needed special attention and the humans receive stress relief. Animals have this innate therapeutic air about them, especially the cats who love to be held and played with. I learned quickly how much better I felt after being with the cats for volunteering. At times, it feels less like getting in service and more like getting in self-care. A goal of mine is to one day have a service animal so that I may provide this same stress relief to others.

I often informally advertise for Cats Haven, telling all my friends they should visit. I frequently bring people from IUPUI and beyond over to the shelter to give them tours. A few weeks ago, I brought my mother to Cats Haven to show her around. She ended up adopting two kittens with Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, comparable to HIV in humans. Like with human HIV, people often fear what they misunderstand. FIV cats can live normal, healthy lives if given the chance. We have done some serious edification on the subject and we feel very honored to be able to give these sweet cats a warm, loving home.

For Professional Writing (ENG-W231), I collaborated with a team of peers to provide local nonprofit animal shelter Cats Haven a 25-page recommendation report for increasing volunteers. My classmates and I worked on this project for months, which included a detailed literature review, surveying of potential volunteers, and interviews with current volunteers. I contributed a great deal of organizing and scheduling to this project, as well as a substantial chunk of the composition of the written materials we included in the report. This project resulted in a designation of E in the IUPUI RISE initiative, which indicates that we gained Experience in the "real world," so to speak. I learned how to effectively complete a group project without wanting to pull out my hair, or the hair of my teammates. We used different kinds of media like the GroupMe application to plan our meetings outside of class and to divide up responsibilities. This app is a new group-messaging forum, so I had to learn to adapt to an unknown technological medium. This project was especially rewarding for me because I was able to give back to a charity that has been close to my heart since coming to IUPUI. I volunteer at Cats Haven every semester, so it was nice to be able to provide them with this list of our well-researched recommendations.