Obinna Achumba

Through the organizational activity Backpack Beginnings, I served alongside the members of the National Council of Negro for Women in packaging various backpacks, selections of clothing, toys, food, and other essential items for young children, ranging from two- to four-month-olds up to teenagers and young adults. This experience taught me the vitality of selfless service and the meaning of giving back to disadvantaged or disproportionately affected communities in regards to inequity of all kinds. I valued this experience as alongside the members of my organization, I was able to truly leave an indelible impact upon the lives of specifically younger children, leaving them with items that they can make great use of in their futures.

For this event, I and several other Aggie Battalion Cadets represented the program in UNCG NAACP’s Trunk-or-Treat event at Guilford Elementary School, handing out candy to the children who attended. Seeing their costumes, spirits and genuine joy for the season served as a reminder of why giving for the sake of giving is essential. I learned the importance of gracious service, allowing oneself to make a difference in small ways that impact the next generation. It’s through this event that I was able to enjoy service of all kinds, even in the cold, as it was serving something bigger than myself.

The freshmen and sophomores of the Aggie Battalion, also called MS1s and MS2s, were responsible for coordinating parking duty and specialty team responsibilities for A&T's football game against Campbell University. For this event, this included three distinct tasks: coordination of students between parking lots to ensure they all get filled safely, organizing the school's color guard in order to present the American flag and state flag respectively, and allowing the Ranger Challenge team to do push-ups in the end zone as a form of celebration. All three of these tasks diversified our leadership capabilities and our responsibilities as we were all forced to take on differing responsibilities without our older class counterparts, which allowed us to grow in not only our leadership presence but our ability to coordinate, strategize, and effectively tackle events with effective course of action together.

For this volunteer experience, I assisted the Aggie Battalion with coordinating planning for the annual GHOE (Greatest Homecoming on Earth) football game. Our responsibilities included coordinating parking spots for visitors and guests, ensuring safe travel for all attendants. My responsibilities encompassed spectating the game alongside our Ranger Challenge specialty team, doing push-ups on the end zone whenever NCAT’s team scored consecutive touchdowns. This was our way of motivating our fellow members in ROTC, and hyping up the crowd for ensuing points the football team would earn. What I learned through this event was the importance of collective work, as every cadets’ efforts led us to effective, impactful and immersive moments of collaboration. We managed to successfully coordinate our efforts to serve the Universiry, our Battalion, and our fellow cadets in one event, represented our multifaceted planning and teamwork. This event truly allowed me to serve alongside my peers to creative a valued experience at NCA&T, one that will stand to reflect our values of leadership and dedication.

Working during this football game involved participating in our NCA&T Color Guard, consisting of presenting the colors (American and State Flag) during the game prior to kickoff. Additionally, I assisted our Ranger Challenge specialty team with hyping up the crowd throughout the game, as we are responsible for doing push-ups in the end zone after consecutive touchdowns. Overall, this experience allowed me to expand my knowledge in multiple tasks throughout the day, remain focused on helping others throughout, and enhance my understanding of multifaceted leadership through expanded responsibilities.

For this community service effort, I partnered with DASH Group Trucking to transport and clean up waste across the city of Raleigh. Local community members volunteer to assist us in our efforts and, with the support, we managed to clear out over 5000 pounds of waste, metal and recyclable materials across many unique properties homes and businesses. The value of this experience inherently taught me what it means to get back to a local community and the full prospective scope of a city to make sure that his well maintained and provided for for years to come. My crucial feedback will be to adjust the hours and times of day that we were out volunteering, as they were not the most optimal for finding people ready and willing to help, but also to accept said help. Besides that, I could be none the more grateful to have this experience.