Alivia Colon

Currently: Student 

Status: Senior

Major: Meteorology

On Ut Prosim: Colon, a native of Alpharetta, Georgia, has worked for VT Engage: The Center for Leadership and Service Learning during her time in Blacksburg. VT Engage coordinates service opportunities and holds leadership workshops, faculty training, and civic engagement workshops.

Colon also is involved with The Market of Virginia Tech, which addresses food insecurity on campus by providing free food to select program participants. Colon started volunteering as a sophomore, packing food and distributing it, and this past spring, she and others cooked single-serving meals, allowing her to pursue two passions—cooking and helping others.

“I feel like one of the most important things is that through service, you're taking something away from it,” Colon said. “I feel there's too many times where people will do volunteer work or service work where they get their hours, and I feel like productive service work is where you take something from it.”

On how Virginia Tech has impacted her: “I wouldn't say [Virginia Tech] has changed it [her view of service], but it has made it more important to where I want to end up in the future. I would encourage all students to try and do some service during their time at Tech. It doesn't matter—10 hours or 400. To me, if you do one event every semester, that is a perfect way to kind of give back. You put attention toward something, and it grows. … You see change when you put attention into those kinds of things. So that's what I would encourage.”

On the importance of service for Virginia Tech’s future: “I think a lot of this school is built off people giving back, whether it's physical money or time. The school is only able to be as great and big as it is because of the students and the people, the alumni who want to come back and give back and continue the tradition of Ut Prosim. So I think that, in the next 150 years, service is always going to be part of life. You’re always going to be given the opportunity to give back or keep, and I promote giving.”