This week, the CCCE Community Spotlight falls on Sam Bearak, a senior history major who spent his sophomore summer working with Summer Blast at Northfield Middle School far from his New York home. Though a perennial volunteer with Young Chefs, and thus a familiar face around both Northfield and Faribault Middle Schools, Sam wanted to go beyond these weekly “peeks into Northfield” in order to better know this city he lives in; a feat he concedes is quite difficult during the year at Carleton. Assigned to a classroom, Sam worked with middle school kids as they navigated a summer filled with classwork, outside activities, field trips, cooking, and strawberry picking. Outside of Blast, Sam enjoyed slow jogs around town, cliff jumping at a local lake, cooking in his apartment with friends, grilling outside during the warm evenings, and heading to the cities for the occasional Twins game.
Looking back, Sam says that his expectations for the summer were far exceeded as the work completely changed [his] perspective on helping people. Sam elaborated on this idea in our brief interview when he emphasized that “when you know the people, you can better collaborate, partner, help and be helped in a meaningful way for everyone”. A gift from the kids in his final week reinforced this realization and hit home the mutual impact of the summer. He recounts:
“The kids made me this book, all the kids did, of their favorite memories from the summer. If you know middle schoolers at all you know that they are always saying things are boring or that they are uninterested, so for them to go out of their way to write about meaningful moments showed me that we all took something away from that summer”.
Today, Sam continues his work at the middle school with Young Chefs while maintaining a busy Carleton course load and fighting for a Club Lacrosse title in his breakout season. As Sam chooses between an array of career paths he holds that his experience with Blast is greatly influencing his decision calculus and his ultimate desire to continue community work and advocacy.
Feel free to stop by the CCCE or send Sam a direct email at bearaks@carleton.edu if you are interested in learning more about his time in Northfield or about working at Summer Blast next summer.