CHRISTOPHER ADAMS OF SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, a junior from Austin, Texas, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week ending March 15, 2015.
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Junior defender Christopher Adams always gives all he has on the lacrosse field and matches that effort by volunteering with Manos de Cristo and the SU Community Garden.
“What I do in class and on the lacrosse field is for me and it is fleeting,” said Adams. “In a year it isnt’ going to matter what you got on a test or did while you were playing. By volunteering, that is a way to make a lasting impact. Those changes are for the good and are way bigger than myself and I can touch a lot of people’s lives that I normally wouldn’t.”
Through his personal dentist and mentor Dr. Pacheco, Adams was introduced to Manos de Christo, a multifaceted organization that is “committed to empowering low-income individuals by promoting dignity and self-reliance.” They host a wide range of adult education class, houses a food pantry, a clothes closet, computer labs, in addition to emergency food and clothing, oral health care and education. Adams and a group of volunteers coordinated a back to school book drive for inner city kids in Austin. Students received backpacks full of supplies that those students otherwise would not have the money to get.
Through Manos de Cristo, Adams has been able to shadow Dr. Pacheco do dental work in the office and help out however he can. Upon graduation, Adams wants to attend dental school and hopes to begin his own practice in Bastrop and continue to volunteer his time.
At Southwestern, Adams has been involved in the breast cancer awareness plot in the SU Community Garden. Started by a civic engagement program as part of the one of the tumor biology classes last year, the group had collected all the equipment and supplies they needed but just needed the man power to get it going. Adams stepped up to the plate and has been volunteering his time to get the project up and running.
“Part of being at Southwestern is I have the opportunity to [volunteer],” said Adams. “We talk about small class sizes, and that is great, but all of these opportunities to get involved in all of these things and have allowed me to grow up and is an important part of my life. Those opportunities are built into my education and that is really cool.”
To read about past SCAC Character & Community winners from the 2014-15 academic year, click here