Meet the Engage Dallas Student Directors
Audrey Courreges
Engage Dallas Student Director for Armstrong Commons
Why I Serve:
Engage Dallas is a unique opportunity for SMU students to be real world changers in the Dallas community. While Dallas shines as one of the fastest growing cities in America, there are several unseen problems in the metroplex that need to be addressed. That’s where Engage Dallas comes in. We can connect SMU students to service projects and make real progress in our local communities.
Audrey Perovich
Engage Dallas Student Director for MHPS Commons
Why I Serve:
The mission of Engage Dallas is something I am looking forward to because I can work with others to encourage the MHPS community to come together in using our time and resources to help those in need beyond our college campus. I am excited for this opportunity because I believe that we are called to be a light in everything we are involved in. Each time I serve is a tangible way that I can show Christ’s love.
Eduardo Yanez Pastene
Engage Dallas Student Director for Virginia-Snider Commons
Why I Serve:
Dallas is a city that seen me grow professionally. Also, it enriched my journey and making me feel just like at home. Without a doubt, engage in Dallas is a beautiful way of giving back.
Emma Siegel
Engage Dallas Student Director for Loyd Commons
Why I Serve:
I serve the local Dallas community to develop a more open minded and empathetic perspective on life. I believe that by helping others, you become a better version of your own self. I am extremely excited to encourage SMU students to participate in serving because I believe that it will allow them to meet new people, discover new things about themselves and others, and lastly, feel fulfilled and as if they have made an impact.
Heidy Cortez
Engage Dallas Student Director for Crum Commons
Why I Serve:
Dallas is my hometown and it has given me many beautiful memories. The least I can do is to give back to the community. Helping others is what keeps me going and I couldn’t be more excited to do it through SMU!
Kami Busbee
Engage Dallas Student Director for Cockrell-McIntosh Commons
Why I Serve:
I serve so that I can give back to my community and meet new people along the way. I enjoy broadening the service I have done as it makes me a more well-rounded person. I find it important to get other students excited about service opportunities by showing them how much fun it can be. Engage Dallas excites me because of how much potential it holds, especially with all of the creative minds that I know are working behind it.
Kirk Thomas
Engage Dallas Student Director for Ware Commons
Why I Serve:
Sustainability. I strive to help people be sustainable in jobs, social life, family. My goal is to see the big picture and find a way to not only help someone today, but to find a way for them to be better off tomorrow. Engage Dallas is our opportunity to shape the lives of our neighbors. Every person we help can go on to help others; that should be the ultimate goal: a sustainable cycle of lifting people up and giving them a path forward.
Madison Leyens
Engage Dallas Student Director for McElvaney Commons
Why I Serve:
I am a big believer in the power of community service to transform the servant’s perspective of community, to unite individuals through a shared objective, and to teach how to proactively address the needs of others. SMU shapes world-changers, and the Engage Dallas program is dedicated to carrying out that mission by building students into servant leaders and sending them out into the world to make a difference. While the impact this program will have on Dallas and beyond will undoubtedly be significant and powerful to witness, I am most excited to see how the introduction of a culture of servant leadership will enhance the SMU community and all aspects of the student experience
Melanie Wright
Engage Dallas Student Director for Boaz Commons
Why I Serve:
Having worked on the initiative that led to Engage Dallas, I am excited to be included as the initiative turns into reality. Community service has been a significant part of my life, and I am looking forward to being able to continue this work as well as assist others in it as well! I look forward to seeing how Engage Dallas will encourage students to give back to the city we call home and become aware of how they can help the community around them.
Natesa Vaidya
Engage Dallas Student Director for Morrison-McGinnis Commons
Why I Serve:
I serve to give back to the communities that have taken me in and given me the resources and support to be my best self. Serving has enabled me to understand the social issues nation-wide and globally, and be able to address them. I am excited to work with Engage Dallas for two reasons: 1) as an incentive for more SMU students to be involved with service opportunities and 2) to give back to the DFW community – a community that has graciously accepted me the past three years.
Victoria Amen
Engage Dallas Student Director for McElvaney Commons
Why I Serve:
I’m excited about Engage Dallas because it’s important to me to use my blessings to improve the lives and situations of those who need help. Engage Dallas is going to provide a wonderful opportunity to do that as well as involve my peers in community work. I’m looking forward to expanding community outreach and showing my peers the needs that exist and how they can help so that we can all be part of the solution.