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We interviewed AmeriCorps members from the Henry Wilson Elementary School team to ask them about what it’s like to serve in New Hampshire!

What inspired you to serve in New Hampshire?

Claire:  My family used to come up to NH for a week every summer in the Squam Lake area, so New Hampshire has always had a lot of fond memories for me and I’ve always really loved the nature and environment.

Becca: I spent the last year of my college experience at Saint Anselm living off-campus downtown in Manchester. I was able to invest in the community in a different way and I wanted to serve in Manchester to further invest in the community and I’ve really enjoyed getting to learn the character of the city more.

Cooper: When I first started looking for places to serve I didn’t know NH specifically, but I knew I wanted to go somewhere in the East Coast. I opted to serve where most needed and ended up in NH and so far it’s been a really good experience. Everyone on my team has been great and I’ve had a great service year so far.

What was it like moving away from home to serve?

Cooper: I’m originally from Colorado and had never been this far East or out of the state that much either. At first it was kind of scary, but after some time, I got used to it because my team has been really supportive and NH is a beautiful place to be!

I’ve never experienced Winter before, what’s that like?

Prisca: Winter in NH was a really special experience for me. I’m from California and had never seen snow before. Seeing snow falling down on the street at night is really pretty and it feels like the snow is sparkling. A fun fact is that in Manchester a sunny day can end up being colder than a snowy day!

Do I need a car to serve in NH?

Cooper: I’d recommend having a car! If you don’t have a car you’ll probably need to carpool with roommates or teammates to get where you need to go. It’s not absolutely required (we do have ACMs who don’t have cars), but it’s definitely handy!

How does finding housing work?

Prisca: It was less complicated than I thought! I’m living in a house with 4 other AmeriCorps members. A ��ɫ��Ƶ staff member helped connect me to my roommates and our place is affordable. We have movie nights every Friday and watch a movie and have dinner together and it’s really fun!

Outside of service, what do you enjoy doing in Manchester?

Claire: I really love going to Lake Massabesic. You can sit by the water and read, or there are lots of nice hiking trails so I just love getting out in nature by the water!

Becca: I like to explore all the different types of food! Manchester has a lot of different food from all different parts of the world and I think food is a great way to explore more of the character of the city and all the people in Manchester that make it what it is.

What makes Manchester a great place to serve?

Joshua: Manchester is a fantastic place to serve for many reasons. One, the students are amazing, I really love partnering with the teachers and staff and administration in all the school buildings. If you like a nice medium sized city, it’s perfect. It’s the biggest city in the state, but by city standards it’s pretty small, so you get to know a lot of people, and the city is very inter-connected. I love the proximity to the ocean, lakes, mountains, and Boston if you like a bigger city. It’s just a really fun place to get to spend a year (or more) of your life!

Morg: Something I appreciate about serving in Manchester is the community you’re able to build here. Through the training days and through service and being in Manchester you meet many new people, not just in the corps, but also around town. There’s such a big sense of community and everyone’s willing to help out if you need help with housing or moving anything, carpooling. There’s a lot of really great people and a great community!

This blog post was edited from a video interview–

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