Jameson Marsh graduated from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2019 and has a career he loves as an Impact Manager at City Year Detroit. Founded by two Harvard Law graduates in 1988, City Year works with schools across the U.S., South Africa, and the U.K. to make education accessible and effective for all students.
Four years before arriving in Bloomington, though, Jameson was in his junior year at Ball State University and realized that he had no idea what he wanted to do after school. While he initially pursued a career as a documentary videographer, Jameson learned that it wasn’t the career path for him. Confused, he thought that it could be beneficial to take some time off school to do some soul searching and reorganizing of life plans. While looking for non-school options, Jameson came across AmeriCorps. Carried out through three programs (National Civilian Community Corps, Volunteers in Service to America, and State & National), AmeriCorps is a national community service initiative. Members dedicate 10-12 months of time to service opportunities.
With a passion for serving others and a desire to explore the country, Jameson packed his bags and took off to Denver, Colo., with his new AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps team.
There, the team worked removing mold from the drywall in homes that had been destroyed by a horrific 100-Year Flood in 2013, where the state saw up to 15 inches of rain in less than 48 hours. Jameson and his team worked long hours each day. Eventually, during their year of service, they relocated to a 4H camp in Prescott National Forest, and then again to Roswell, N.M. and Lake Arthur, N.M.
To this day, Jameson says the 400-person town of Lake Arthur, N.M. was one of his favorite projects. “The community welcomed us in a way I had never experienced. The mayor spoke with us. The citizens were excited that we were there and that we might leave to tell more people about their town.” The team’s focus was restoring an old schoolhouse into a museum–a project that sparked his love for education and education access and showed Jameson the magnitude of impact that service can have.