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Leading through service

By Mara Kumagai Fink '11
March 9, 2011
Tracie Dahl '11 helps a student with her math homework during a Reaching Our Goals session. Dahl serves as one of the student directors of the mentoring program that pairs Oles with Latino students from Northfield Public Schools.

Every Tuesday night Tracie Dahl '11 sets aside her college coursework and focuses on high school homework.

That's when she mentors a high school sophomore through Reaching Our Goals (ROG), a networking and empowerment program that pairs Oles with local Latino middle and high school students.

The St. Olaf students provide help with homework, and each month the student-run organization offers at least one recreational or cultural event for all of the youth involved in the program and their mentors.

It's one of several service projects Dahl is involved in that range from cleaning up highways to coordinating care packages for first-year students to writing letters to high school students through the TRiO program. She says the opportunities for service at St. Olaf were the main reason that she decided to become an Ole.

"The numerous service organizations and opportunities here on campus make it easy to find a way to do something you're passionate about," she says. "I think the fact that there is such a positive relationship between St. Olaf and Northfield allows for a great collaboration between the two and allows me to serve beyond the St. Olaf community."

Dahl, a Spanish major with a biomedical studies concentration, spends the majority of her volunteer time working as the financial director for ROG. Some of her other service activities include working at the Academic Advising Center, where she helps students manage their course loads, and volunteering with Alpha Phi Omega, a community service fraternity on campus.

Volunteering has always been a part of Dahl's life. In high school she spent a good deal of time volunteering in a program similar to ROG. She says that now it's just part of what she does. "I feel that if I'm presented with the opportunity and ability to help others in any way, it would be difficult to justify not doing so. Because of this, community service has always been a part of my life and has become second nature," she says.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.