ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, July 1, 1996 TAG: 9607010002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Extra credit
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
Name: Andrew Clark
Age: 18
School: Roanoke Catholic School
Year: Graduating senior
What he does: During the past four years, Andy has volunteered more than 1,500 hours at the Roanoke Chapter of the American Red Cross. He has done office work, been a member of and chaperone for the Youth Clown Corps and, for the past two years, has been Youth Photographer.
Andy spent last summer visiting all of the agencies the volunteer program supports, photographing the volunteers in action. He spent more than 100 hours producing an audiovisual presentation, which was shown at the 1995 Volunteer Awards Ceremony. Unfortunately, when a slide projector was taken from a Red Cross office, Andy's production vanished with it.
``More than 240 people had the opportunity to view Andy's wonderful presentation,'' wrote Thomas Stokes, youth coordinator of volunteer services at the Red Cross, in his letter of nomination. ``The show left many people in tears.''
Last year, Andy received the Roanoke Red Cross chapter's Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award.
``Andy is very modest and shy; he's very detail-oriented and always gets the job done,'' Stokes said.
Andy was nominated for and attended the 1996 National Red Cross Youth Convention. He received one of only 30 scholarships awarded throughout the United States and was the only recipient in Virginia.
The convention ``had programs on diversity; on teen problems, like sex, drugs, violence, HIV; and on international humanitarian law - how the Red Cross deals with other countries' rules and regulations when helping out,'' Andy said.
``The author Tom Wolfe spoke about how America is changing. A teen-ager from Bosnia who was blinded by a shell there spoke about what it was like there. He doesn't even know if his father is dead or alive.''
What he's learned: ``I never really knew what it meant to be a volunteer until I became involved ... with the American Red Cross. It changed my outlook on myself as well as my outlook on the youth in today's society.''
Why he does it: ``It gives you a good feeling to help out people you don't even know. I did it out of my free will, and don't get any monetary reward. I'm thinking about joining the disaster team at the Red Cross.''
Other activities: Andy was on the school's soccer team for three years and was captain this year. He was president of the outdoor club and was in the drama club. As a member of his church's youth group, he has been involved in service projects, including the Adopt-a-Highway program and participation in a 30-hour ``famine'' to raise money for the hungry.
I would like people to think of me as: ``Someone who's trying to make a difference in other people's lives, someone who understands the challenges.''
In my free time I like to: ``Hang out with friends. Friendship is the most important thing. I also do a lot of outdoor activities, basically anything you can do outdoors. [He's even tried bungee jumping.] I do lots of hiking. You get out in the woods and your mind goes blank, you can think more clearly.''
What I'd like to change about the world: ``I'd like to change the way people think about things like violence, racism and drugs.''
What I'd like to change about myself: ``I like people, but I'm not a people person. I would like to be able to express myself better.''
Most important issue facing teen-agers today: ``Violence and drugs and HIV.''
The toughest lesson I've learned so far is: ``Live life to the fullest because you miss out on so much if you don't take life by the horns.''
My greatest thrill has been: ``Graduating from high school. High school was great. I've had the best time with my classmates.''
My major goal in life is: ``To be happy in everything that I do.''
Person I most admire: ``Thomas Stokes. He loves what he does; it's not just a job to him. He really cares about the kids and teen-agers he works with.''
Future plans: Andy will probably attend Radford University in the fall. ``I'm interested in a lot of things; I can't pinpoint anything right now. I'd like to continue to volunteer [at the Red Cross].''
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART\Staff. Roanoke Catholic graduate and Redby CNBCross volunteer Andrew Clark.