SU Student Rebecca Recinos Dedicates Service to Community
Rebecca Recinos is inspired by preschoolers.
Service to the community is a passion
for Seattle University student
Rebecca Recinos, whose greatest
inspiration comes from working
with preschoolers.
"I spend a lot of time with preschoolers,"
says Recinos, a junior liberal studies major. "I
love them, their families, their life stories."
Recinos is a team leader for Jumpstart,
SU's program that pairs students with
preschoolers from low-income families for
supportive one-on-one relationships that
build language, literacy and social skills. In
the last academic year, her efforts focused
on Prospect Enrichment Preschool, 1919 E.
Prospect St. A commitment of 300 hours is
required of team leaders, and Recinos has
put in more than 400 hours, or roughly
15 hours a week.
Aileah Slepski, manager of Jumpstart,
describes Recinos as one of the most passionate
community volunteers she has met. "She
is dedicated to the community children we
work with and is simply remarkable," says
Slepski.
This summer, Recinos served as a
Shinnyo-en Summer Fellow, an SU program
to increase a student's capacity for community
and campus leadership while discerning
a vocational path. For her fellowship's 20
hours of volunteer work, she chose Childhaven,
where the focus is ending preschooler
abuse and neglect. She also spends a few
hours a week with the Lifelong AIDS Alliance's
MPowerment Project, a peer program
for queer youth.
It doesn't take a mathematician to recognize
this full-time student spends a huge
chunk of time in her varied service efforts—
and she's been doing service work since the
eighth grade.
"It's just about prioritizing," says Recinos.
"I base school work around my service. It
means a lot of late nights, but I've planned it
Rebecca Recinos is inspired by preschoolers.
out. I just love getting more involved with
the community."
Slepski adds, "I'm not sure how she does
it, but she gets it all done and she does well
in her studies, too."