Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week! As a nonprofit organization, PeerForward success hinges on the help of service-driven volunteers. This week, we are highlighting those who make our work possible, such as longtime PeerForward volunteer Bill Craig! Bill is a retired school administrator, but his desire to help students has not waned. Throughout his time with PeerForward, he has served as both a Writing Coach and a College Coach. Most recently, he acted as a College Coach at our 2024 Nazareth Workshop. We caught up with Bill to inquire about what drives him to volunteer:
What drives you to serve first-generation, low-income students?
The college application process can appear daunting and opaque. But all students deserve to be equipped with the skill set needed to navigate the process. It give me great joy to support, albeit in a very small way, PeerForward’s mission to close the education gap.
Please describe the impact of the PeerForward/College Summit volunteering experience.
Having the privilege of serving as a PeerForward volunteer has been one of the, if not the, most impactful experiences of my life. Obviously, the most rewarding aspect of PeerForward service is connecting with and supporting a beautifully diverse group of Peer Leaders in their college journey as both a writing coach and a college coach. But a close second is the relationships I have made with an equally diverse group of volunteers. I count many of the people I serve with each summer as close friends and people for whom I have a great deal of admiration. I am inspired by the way in which PeerForward brings together people, who come many different locations and many different stations in life, in support of its mission.
In your opinion, why should low-income students pursue postsecondary education?
I think that all students deserve the academic preparation necessary to have options in postsecondary education and the knowledge base required to make an informed decision about which of the options to pursue.
