How Service Work Changed My Northeastern Experience
What is ACES?
Before I get into my experience with ACES, I think it's important to actually discuss what it is. The Northeastern Alliance of Civically Engaged Students, or "ACES," is one of many volunteer organizations at Northeastern. ACES is run by the office of Community Service and Civic Engagement, or CSCE. ACES is largely considered Northeastern's biggest community service organization and has around 100 members.
There are two main components of ACES: the yearly volunteer partners and the civic engagement learning. In your ACES orientation, you get to pick from around 20 different community partners across different sectors such as education, housing, and social justice. Once you select a partner, you can volunteer with them as much as you want throughout the year, typically once a week for 2-4 hours. It's rare to have the opportunity to help develop a community organization the way you do with ACES. I will talk more about my experience with my community partner, The National Braille Press later, but first let’s talk about the second half of ACES, the events. Throughout the year, ACES hosts civic engagement lessons and other group events. Lessons cover topics across social justice sectors, such as immigration policies, redlining, and ecological footprint. My personal favorite event was one on environmental justice and the disproportionate effects on different populations. It was something I had never really considered before, and it taught me a lot about how I could contribute to preventing this injustice. Additionally, ACES has incredible social events. My favorite was the ACES Friendsgiving event where all ACES members share a meal and just get to talk about their community partners or school. Overall, between both civic engagement lessons and volunteering, ACES gives the most complete volunteer experience you can find on campus.
ACES Kickoff
ACES Freshman Kickoff is definitely the most unique start to Northeastern that I could have imagined. ACES has an application that is done the summer before your first year if you are matriculating to Boston, or later if you aren't. You can join ACES at any point while at Northeastern, and their application runs each semester, opening mid-July and closing mid-August. If accepted as an incoming first-year, you move into Northeastern the earliest day possible to begin ACES kickoff. First, you'll meet your team and get to know each other while learning more about ACES and the rest of the kickoff program. After the first introductory day, the next few days will vary depending on what the leadership team decides on. On the first full day, I went to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, which is a 1:1 recreation of the U.S. Senate. Honestly, it was one of the strangest ways I could imagine starting off my college career, but it was incredibly fun. The institute teaches you how the Senate operates and we got to go through a full simulation of a Senate debate. It was a unique experience that I would have missed had it not been for ACES.
Following our experience at the Senate, each team took a walk around a different area of Boston to learn more about the history and culture of the city. Personally, my group took a walk around Roxbury and saw numerous restaurants and cafes that I have been to since this introduction. This was extremely helpful to have, especially in my first week in Boston. All the team leaders are upperclassmen, so they are knowledgeable about Northeastern and the city. Through kickoff and meeting with leaders, I was able to get a better idea of what classes I wanted to take, tips to set myself up for success, and new places to visit in Boston. Not only was it great to meet student leaders, but I also got very close with my ACES team. Since the program happens before school even starts, it was so nice to have friends already and have the opportunity to meet so many new people in my class before everyone else arrived on campus. The following day was a full-day volunteer experience with numerous partners. My favorite part of ACES is the breadth of volunteer opportunities that you are able to access. Personally, I got to mulch and clean all the street trees across four different streets that I use every day. Not only was it a fun experience gardening with my team, but I truly saw my impact in the work I was doing, even months after.
For our next event, we actually left Boston and went to Cradles to Crayons in Newton. Cradles to Crayons is a nonprofit that donates used clothing and toiletries to homeless shelters. It was a great experience to both give back and have a chance to bond with the team off-campus. The final day was a celebration, starting with a catered breakfast and presentation from Lisa Morde, one of the leaders for the CSCE office and the advisor to ACES. The final day also involved picking our community partners. We got to walk around the venue and meet the 20 different partners, and in the end, we ranked the ones we most wanted to work with. Overall, ACES kickoff was exciting and a great way to meet new people while giving back to the Boston community.
My Experience With My Community Partner
At kickoff, I ranked The National Braille Press as my number one choice. NBP creates all sorts of documents and books written in Braille for the blind and visually impaired community. The mission, work, and people at NBP convinced me that it would be the right pick for my partner, and it ended up being one of the best choices I have ever made. For the past two years, I have volunteered every week with NBP and met so many amazing people. Even though I didn't know anything about Braille, through volunteering there, I was able to learn it and assist in creating numerous types of Braille products. Still, my favorite project I have worked on was the annual gala.
Every year, NBP hosts a gala with a silent auction. The auction has items that volunteers and workers at NBP reach out to and get from sports teams, large companies, and restaurants. Some items this year included a Celtics basketball signed by the whole team, a fully paid vacation, and private dinners at restaurants. This year, we raised over $440,000 in donations and the auction alone, which was just incredible to be a part of. Beyond the gala, my weekly volunteering has given me the chance to see the direct impact of NBP's work. Whether I'm making Braille products, helping with donation strategy, or assisting with special projects, I know that the work I'm doing is making literacy more accessible to the blind community. The staff at NBP has been incredibly welcoming and patient in teaching me about their mission and the technical skills needed to support it. Another reason I chose NBP was its proximity to campus, though there are partners all throughout Boston. All the ACES community partners do incredible work and it's an amazing program to get to be a part of.
Conclusion
Looking back on my time with ACES, I can confidently say it has been one of the most rewarding parts of my Northeastern experience. ACES gave me a head start in building meaningful friendships, learning about Boston, and finding a cause I truly care about. My weekly volunteering at The National Braille Press has taught me skills I never expected to learn and introduced me to people who inspire me with their dedication to accessibility and literacy. Beyond that, the civic engagement lessons have challenged me to think more critically about social justice issues and my role in addressing them. If you're an incoming freshman looking for a way to make an impact while building community, I cannot recommend ACES enough. It's more than just a volunteer program. It's an opportunity to find your place at Northeastern and in Boston while doing work that genuinely matters.
