Each year, Augusta University’s Office of Volunteer Services and Community Engagement awards an academic “Spirit of Service” scholarship to a dedicated student volunteer who has given exemplary service and leadership support to the establishment’s mission.
This year’s scholarship recipient is senior Charlotte Downs, who begins her journey in the College of Nursing this fall.
“It was completely unexpected. I actually had no idea that scholarship even existed to begin with,” she said. “I never volunteered with the want to get money or anything like that, so receiving this was not only a surprise, but also a big honor.”
Over multiple semesters at AU, Downs has dedicated her time to volunteering as an operating room assistant and serving as a “VolunJag” for the Adult Inpatient 8 West-Day Surgery and Pediatric Intensive Care Units.
“I have enjoyed volunteering as a VolunJag so much. This experience has helped me so much toward achieving my medical career goals,” said Downs. “I knew about a year ago, when I started volunteering, that I wanted to see what healthcare was like up close and in-person.”
Despite her numerous great experiences with volunteering, Downs said it is not always an easy task to become invested in.
“When you’re first starting out, there were times that I got ignored by nurses or medical personnel,” she said. “Some people were really kind and I remember them, because they really wanted me to succeed and learn. But there were other people that made me feel like I just got in the way.”
Nevertheless, Downs said overcoming those adverse encounters also taught her valuable skills, and in the end the scholarship was also an excellent means of feeling appreciated for her efforts.
“I think the scholarship is a great way to spur students to continue volunteering, because working in a hospital is not the prettiest or easiest,” she said. “It’s great that AU recognizes students that push through and don’t give up, because there were times that I wanted to give up and decided not to.”
Being the first in her family to pursue a degree in medical field, Downs said volunteering introduced her into a world of career possibilities, while also allowing her the opportunity to see the positives and negatives of a life in healthcare.
“It was a great experience being able to be in a hospital, because I knew there were ugly or bad parts to being in healthcare, I just didn’t know what exactly those were,” she said. “I got to see some really hard things that I would have never expected.”
Inspired by how medical professionals were able to ease a family’s pain or bring them great joy, Downs said the eye-opening knowledge she gained through volunteering only spurred her interest in academically succeeding to become a nurse.
Although she is not yet committed to a specific area of interest or department in healthcare, due to her vast interests in various fields, Downs said she is currently considering specializing in either a pediatric or operation setting; however, knowing herself, she said that could easily change with the experience of another wellness sector.
“It’s all about seeing where God wants me to be, and where He thinks I can use my skills best,” she said.
