A group of Rocky Mountain College students earned an invitation to a national competition for their semester-long project focused on helping women at a correctional facility in Billings.
The students are all part of a program called Enactus, which has clubs at universities all over the country. Each chapter tries to identify a problem in their community and provide a solution.
Rocky Mountain College's students dedicated their project to helping women at Passages correctional facility in Billings. The students designed a program that helps participants develop professional skills with hopes of assisting them to find stable employment.
Enactus president and current Rocky Mountain College senior Kara Holmlund said that the group wanted to help Passages because it exemplifies the main objective of the program.
"The goal of Enactus is to identify and fill a need we see in our community," Holmlund said at the Billings airport Tuesday. "It fit really well with what we were trying to accomplish."
Holmlund and four other Rocky students were rewarded for their efforts and invited to travel to Dallas, Texas, for the national competition. The group was guaranteed top three finish and took off for Texas Tuesday afternoon.
"The purpose of this competition was to really connect with a disadvantaged or under served area within our community," Holmlund said. "It's definitely something I hold near and dear to my heart because it was really amazing getting to meet these women and hear different perspectives about the importance of what we're doing."
Another program member, Kristen Wheeling, said that the recognition from the national competition represents all of their hard work coming to fruition.
"We just want to do projects and things that can help people, whether it be on a small scale or a large scale," Wheeler said. "It's amazing to see our impact, not just at Passages, but that others appreciate the hard work we've done."
Enactus faculty advisors Karen Beiser and Lisa Wallace said the program has developed a lot over the years, but that the student-led organization never ceases to amaze them.
"Watching them develop professional skills and do so in a way that helps others is truly amazing," Wallace said.
"I've been a part of the program for 16 years and the students just continue to improve their ideas," Beiser said. "This group really knocked it out of the park."
Beiser said she's incredibly proud of what the students have accomplished and hopes it can inspire them to do their best to try and make a difference in their community.
“A lot of people feel like, ‘What can I do? I’m only one person or we’re only a really small group,'" Beiser said. "The truth of the matter is that these guys have shown that repeatedly over the years they can make a difference."
The group's top three placement earned the program extra funding, and it's safe to say these students are already thinking about what they can do next.
"With the funding that we're receiving, it will just propel us into the future of, you know, maybe adding more elements to our curriculum," Holmlund said. "It's really exciting to hopefully improve the program next fall."
