Growing up as a middle child, Summer Bahr ’25 always wanted to be like her older brother. Around the age of 10, her brother had to do volunteer work, and she began to watch him. “I started just asking if I could assist with cutting out the different shapes for the library’s makerspace,” she said. It turned into many years of Summer spending time at the library helping out.
Toward the end of high school, Summer was unsure if she would be able to go to college until she was recruited for cross-country and track and field. “Being a part of a team has really made me who I am today,” Summer said.
Summer’s love of volunteering has transformed from wanting to be like her brother into something she truly enjoys. At Berea College, she applied to be a Bonner Scholar, a nationwide program that supports students who want to change the world through service. “I didn’t really know what it meant, but I applied and was accepted. It was a really fun experience working with the 14 other Bonners.”
First-year Bonner Scholars are assigned a labor position within the Center for Excellence in Learning through Service (CELTS) program. Summer’s first work assignment was with middle schoolers at Berea Community School, where she and her team worked to create engaging, themed activities for the students. “Unfortunately, due to COVID-19,” she said, “I couldn’t engage with the community as much as previous groups.”
The next summer, she was able to choose where she wanted to work in CELTS and decided to work with Habitat for Humanity. She began as a team member, researching housing market issues and making infographics for social media. After her summer of service, she focused on engaging social media content. She is now a program manager.
I am in constant contact with community partners to ensure we are giving back through our labor. My favorite part is seeing everyone glow while we are working at a build site.
Summer Bahr ’25
“I am in constant contact with community partners to ensure we are giving back through our labor,” Summer said. “My favorite part is seeing everyone glow while we are working at a build site.”
She encourages other students to get involved. “The work itself is very low stakes,” she explained. “You are not going to get hurt or in trouble if something goes wrong. It is a way to give back to others in a variety of ways whether it be with children, senior citizens or people trying to learn a new language.”
Another aspect of being a Bonner Scholar is completing two summers of service, where students intern for a nonprofit organization or other community support service. “Those have been the most rewarding aspects of Berea that I have been able to be a part of,” Summer said.
The first summer of service Summer completed was in North Carolina at Catawba Riverkeeper. It protects the Catawba River basin, and Summer worked as a marketing intern. She promoted events and merchandise and made many social media posts. “It was my first time marketing something, and I really enjoyed working with the organization.”
The second summer of service was the most rewarding for Summer. She split her time between two sites, the first being Sunnyvale Public Library. “I brought back to life a program to help older patrons use apps on mobile devices,” she said. “My summer of service reinforced that I want tobe a librarian.”
The second site, Nearly New Shop in Sunnyvale, is a completely volunteer-operated shop where they resell donations. “Every day was different,” she said. “There were always donations to be sorted through or something to be organized. I love organization, so this was a good place to work for the summer.” Sometimes, Summer would interpret for Spanish-speaking families at the store.
Throughout high school, Summer enjoyed Spanish class, and she wanted to continue learning. Being at Berea and doing volunteer work helped her realize the importance of being bilingual. “It made me aware of how many people only speak Spanish and how I could become bilingual to help others because it is not a skill a lot of English speakers have,” Summer explained.
In her Spanish courses, Summer took Fred de Rosset’s Spanish 310, which meets the Active Learning Experience (ALE) that all students must have to graduate. “I had the opportunity to work with the Spanish-speaking population at the Madison County Public Library,” Summer said. “It was so hard, and it was so rewarding. It allows me to show a whole population of people that I see them and their language is beautiful.”
This experience helped Summer solidify her choice of major and set her on the path to becoming a librarian. “All the skills I have gained,” Summer said, “through my education and volunteer time at Berea are transferable to a library setting.”
