High school and college students are now more involved in service than in the past, according to the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, which conducts the largest and oldest empirical study of American higher education.

Brittany Anderson, sophomore in biology, was elected vice president for community service of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars’ 2006-2007 National Leadership Council.

“I know how it makes me feel,” Anderson said of community service. “It makes me feel better about myself knowing that I’m helping other people and using the things that I have in my life to help someone else.”

NSCS is an honors organization that recognizes outstanding academic achievement among first- and second-year college students and encourages members to develop leadership skills through community service, according to its Web site.

Anderson is an active member of the ISU chapter of NSCS, which has around 1200 active members, according to chapter president Daniel Feimster, junior in mechanical engineering.

“She [has] a pretty amazing commitment to community service,” said Amy Shopkorn, director of leadership for NSCS, who reviewed the applications sent in for council positions.

“With over 200,000 members nationwide, it is a pretty prestigious honor for the 15 elected [council] members,” she said.

Anderson will serve in her individual position while also working with the NLC – a group that resembles a student council – to implement a national initiative for the coming year. She will officially begin her one-year term in June. As vice president for community service, she will work with NSCS staff and chapter members to further NSCS commitment to service.

Anderson said she hopes to enhance communication about volunteer opportunities and increase the number of opportunities for students to get involved with in the surrounding community.

“I didn’t really know how to get involved,” she said of her membership in NSCS. But she said she hopes to be able to change that by creating awareness of volunteer opportunities both among members and non-members.

Although she has yet to meet with NSCS staff concerning her future objectives for the organization, Anderson said she is already setting goals she would like to achieve on a local and national level.

She said she would like to get ISU students involved in an outreach program with the homeless in Des Moines. Through the program, volunteers take turns driving vans around the city to pick up the homeless and take them to emergency shelters.

Anderson said she would also like to get a Big Brothers Big Sisters program established between ISU students and local elementary or middle school students. Additionally, she said she would like to see more events and fundraisers coordinated with health organizations.

Anderson organized a team of NSCS members to raise funds and walk in the Relay For Life to support cancer research, and she was involved with Mid-Iowa Community Action’s Living with HIV program last fall. As auction overseer at the event, she helped with the silent auction to raise funds for those living with HIV.

“Her energy, quick thinking skills, optimism and compassion for those living with HIV was very much appreciated,” said Janelle Durlin, Living with HIV program coordinator.

On April 29, Anderson will volunteer with the Ames Heart Walk at Moore Memorial Park to raise funds for cardiovascular research and education. The walk is free and open to the public and begins at 9 a.m.

Anderson said another one of her goals is to organize more walks for Type I diabetes on college and university campuses.

“My little cousin was diagnosed with it two years ago,” she said.

Anderson said she has her heart set on becoming a doctor, probably a cardiologist. She currently works night shifts and weekends at the Iowa Homeless Youth Center, a transitional living home. There she helps women near her own age prepare to support themselves and their children.

“It makes me feel bad about ever complaining about my life. Some of them came from really rough homes,” Anderson said. “I’m about the same age as them . and they’re a lot more open with me. We sit and talk about what’s happened in their lives before, and how they took it. It’s really hard hearing some of the stories.”

Anderson is also involved with many campus organizations, including the Honors Program, ISU Hip-Hop Dance Club and Beta Beta Beta, the biological honors society. She works as a lab assistant in the biology department, in addition to 30 hours per week at the youth center.