Megan Rochlitz, the newest member of the Friends In Deed family, comes to us from St. Ignace, where she served a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Mackinac Economic Alliance. And while we haven’t had much time to get to know Megan, one thing has become plainly obvious — between her love of trivia, obscure documentaries, and sundry podcasts — she commands a breadth of knowledge uncommon to someone her age. Majoring in religion, with a minor in English, she was drawn to the field for its interdisciplinarity. Branching into matters of history, philosophy, sociology, and more, what she found most interesting in her studies was the role religious movements have played as both drivers for and bulwarks against social change.
After graduating, Megan joined the workforce but found herself unsatisfied. “I needed something that would be different. Something that would help people rather than just improve the company’s bottom line,” she explained. So Megan committed to a year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA, a program she so enjoyed that she’s decided to do it all over again with Friends In Deed.
We’re all thrilled to have a second VISTA in Megan — Andrew is returning for a second year. Right now she’s looking forward to getting to know Ypsi and Friends In Deed a little better. Over her year in St. Ignace, she has almost unavoidably grew accustomed to the fudge-based diet popular to that region, so she’s excited to explore the culinary diversity of her new home.