Junior year is a big step up from sophomore year and comes with many new opportunities, both daunting and exciting. Juniors gets the chance to follow their own passions through the Service Learning program, now able to choose to join an existing project or start their own.

Like many other juniors, Marin Burns has decided to create her own project, called Working Wardrobes, with some equally passionate juniors, Rebecca Roque, Sara Gareeb and Sarah Lowey.

“The goal of the Working Wardrobes project is to give people who are interviewing for jobs the confidence to do so by giving them clothes that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford,” Burns said.

Going into the Service Learning process this year, Burns had no clear plan for what she wanted to do, entering into the first Service Learning day with an open mind. During the brainstorming process, however, Burns discovered her passion.

“I wanted to do something meaningful in my community, and I remembered Juliette Singarella ‘14 doing the prom dress project a couple years ago, so that’s what originally sparked my interest,” Burns said. “We were just writing ideas down, and I remembered, something just clicked and the rest of the day I was determined to start it.”

Burns recruited Roque, Gareeb, and Lowey to help her and together they got approved by their panel to have clothing drives here on campus.

“We want to have two clothes drives to collect a lot of clothing for the offices and really establish a relationship with them, and maybe help them get Sage connections because a lot of Sage parents work in fashion and have clothes they can donate,” Burns said.

The Working Wardrobes group is motivated by the girls’ motivation to give back to the community and help people who weren’t handed the same opportunities as they were, according to Burns.

“Everyone deserves a chance to go after their dreams, and it would be silly if something as trivial as clothing was going to hold them back,” Burns said. “If we have the power to help them out in any small way that we can, I think we have a responsibility to do so.”

However, not all juniors decide to start their own group. Many, like Charlotte Lynskey, find a pre-existing group that piques their interests and passions.

Lynskey, along with fellow juniors Brianna Cupps and Catharine Malzahn, joined seniors Mara Chemerinsky, Tess Hezlep and Eliana Theologides Rodriguez in their group called Power of Passion. Through the Power of Passion project, 5th through 8th grade girls are introduced to culinary arts, creative writing, dance, theatre and singing.

“Our purpose is to empower young girls through different art forms,” Lynskey said. “We visit a Boys & Girls Club and meet up with the girls and introduce them to the arts in the hope that we can instill confidence and a passion for the arts in them.”

All the members of the group connect to the arts in some way; for Lynskey, it’s a passion for dance that she wants to share with the community.

“I’ve grown up dancing, and it’s always played a significant role in my life. Not only have I discovered a passion for the arts, but it has also greatly helped with giving me some confidence,” Lynskey said. “I was always super shy as a kid, and because of dance, I’ve become much more confident in myself, and I’ve definitely come out of my shell.”

Over the course of the year, the Power of Passion group hopes to create fun lesson plans and share a large variety art styles with the girls, but mostly they want to bond with the girls and use their own passions to empower the young girls.

“I really admire what this group is doing within the community. We all are passionate about the arts and love working with kids,” Lynskey said. “I’m excited to get to know each girl we work with and find out what they are passionate about or what art they would like to explore more.”