By Isabella Montenegro
Editor-in-Cheif
Costa alumnus Sami Block found that current high school students find difficulty in searching for volunteer opportunities. According to Block, she related with these students when she went to high school.
Block graduated from Costa in 2017 and graduated from UCLA in 2021 with a double major in International Development Studies and Chinese. After meeting someone who was interested in developing an app that would allow organizations to promote potential volunteers, the idea of GatherU was created. GatherU is an app that aids students in making an immediate difference in their community based on their interests, schedules, and locations. She is the first and only employee with a scope of responsibilities; her official title within the organization is business development manager.
“I explained the importance of volunteering in our community and how students currently struggle to find volunteer activities relevant to their location and interests,” Block said. “After doing some research and focus groups, we decided to shift the app (recode it) from brands giving rewards away to people for doing good deeds to strictly nonprofits and students.”
The inspiration for Block to become a part of this app came from extensive research. She found that during the application process, colleges have shifted their focus from standardized tests to high school achievements and extracurricular activities. When the GatherU team spoke with current high school students, the team found that finding the right organization to volunteer at is a difficult and complex process.
“We want to make volunteering a simple, fun, and social experience by allowing individuals to sign up and share events with their friends,” Block said. “Features include centralized hubs for students to locate opportunities that align with their values and tracking and certification created on completion of goals.”
Block had various jobs during her time at UCLA, including being a marketing intern for CSQ magazine; content writer Intern for Blockforce Capita (a cryptocurrency company); and content writer for the app TULU.
“Costa taught me the basic fundamentals to succeed academically at UCLA,” Block said. “This job has taught me how to launch an app from start to finish.”
Costa is a part of why Block’s idea for the app changed; when she brought up the idea to her team, they decided to modify their tracking schedules to better accommodate teens.
“The app idea shifted when I brought up to the team that I had to volunteer in health class, and we just used a piece of paper to track and verify hours,” Block said. “Hopefully, if this takes off, I have a few app ideas of my own and would like to consult and help others’ start-up apps take off in the future.”
Block has come to learn that working for a start-up company has its benefits and downfalls. She recommends this type of work to anyone interested in using technology as its profession.
“There are several benefits such as learning new skills and flexible hours,” Block said. “However, some cons I’ve seen are that there’s constant change and sometimes lack of structure. This can be challenging, especially with the app being a fully remote role.”
According to Block, GatherU would have benefited her when she was a student in high school. While she found difficulty doing volunteer work, working with GatherU aims to eliminate those experiences for high school students.
“I wish a platform like this existed during my time at Costa when I was trying to complete my hours for Health class and build my resume when applying to colleges,” Block said. “I love that we found a specific opportunity to help young people with an increasingly important part of their personal development and pathway to their professional lives after high school or college.”
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