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Home > Initiatives > Awards Programs > Newman Civic Fellows Award 2013 > The 2013 Newman Civic Fellows > Shaishav Desai, Raritan Valley Community College

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Shaishav Desai, Raritan Valley Community College

Shaishav Desai, a second-year student at Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC), has demonstrated outstanding leadership and has maintained a clear sense of purpose through his service to others. While attending RVCC Shaishav has become involved in several curricular and co-curricular community outreach programs that addressed hunger, homelessness, health, financial literacy, and historical research. Motivating others is always at the heart of his leadership efforts-and he accomplishes this effortlessly. Through his service-learning and civic engagement activities, Shaishav has assisted community organizations in meeting their goals, has helped disadvantaged populations improve the quality of their lives, and has offered other students the opportunity to gain new perspectives by interacting with and helping others. By participating in various programs that provide outreach to the campus and community, Shaishav has helped make service an all-encompassing theme at the College and has encouraged other students to make service-learning and civic engagement an important part of their RVCC education.

I have always had a drive to serve others and work for the common good. But I never fully realized that I could go beyond volunteerism--that my opinion and hard work could influence policy decisions. My views changed when I sat in the office of one of my legislators in Washington, DC."

-Amanda Coffin, University of Maine at Farmington, Campus Compact student leader