Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Class 19 Team Leader Spotlight: Brittany Lewin

Brittany Lewin, from Cincinnati, Ohio, is the Team Leader for Maple 2 in NCCC’s Class 19. She arrived in Vinton on January 8, 2013, to start her 11-month service term leading a team of people between the ages of 18 and 24. Maple 2 is made up of 10 people from across the country, and they will serve together in a number of service projects across the North Central Region.

“Being involved with AmeriCorps has been a pursuit for quite some time,” Brittany said. She felt drawn to join NCCC. “I believe in the values and mission statement that NCCC promotes and feel my long term outlook truly aligns with what AmeriCorps represents and does, making the choice more of an intuition than a conscious decision.”

Brittany has several skills that she brings with her to the Team Leader position. She has had extensive training in problem solving through her bachelor’s degree in mechanical manufacturing engineering technology. She has also physical and outdoors skills gained through rock climbing, hiking, and mountaineering.

Prior to joining NCCC, Brittany was finishing up her bachelor’s degree at Northern Kentucky University, which she graduated from in December 2012. She also graduated from Scott High School in May 2007. Brittany has many thoughts about what she might want to do after finishing the program. Among these ideas are another AmeriCorps year, a career as a mechanic on wind turbines, or an expedition in New Zealand.

Maple 2’s first project is with the Buchanan County Conservation Board in Hazelton, Iowa. The team is assisting Buchanan County Conservation Board with prescribed burning, invasive species removal, and facility maintenance. In addition, the team is assisting in the planning of three community service days: Natural Areas Clean-up, Invasive Species Rescue Day, and a Farm to School Community Gardening Day.

Some fun facts about Brittany:

Q: What was your first job? Arby’s

Q: What is your favorite movie? Planet Earth

Q: What will be your first words of advice for your team members? “The cost of dreams unfulfilled is simply too high. You don’t know until you try things.”

Q: What is one place in the world that you really, really wish you could visit? New Zealand

Q: What is your favorite candy? Reese’s

Q: Are there any sayings your parents repeated over and over that you can still remember clearly? “If ‘if’s’ and ‘but’s’ were candy and nuts, everyday would be like Christmas.”

Q: What do you like to do in your free time? Explore

Q: Could you give us one reason to join AmeriCorps NCCC? There are tons of reasons. Which in fact I would use would depend on who I’m talking to. One reason is that the NCCC is a concentrated and established way with countless benefits to commit to bettering the world.