Caroline Janeway is a native of Bristol, TN, but moved to Alabama in 2004 to attend Samford University, where she majored in English and minored in Religion. After college, Caroline served as an AmeriCorps Vista with then Impact Alabama from 2008-2009. After completing her service year, she attended and graduated from Georgetown University with an M.A. in English.
Following her graduate studies, Caroline returned to her undergraduate alma mater to serve as the Associate Director of University Fellows, a university-wide honors program, and to build Micah Fellows, a service-oriented honors program. While building Micah Fellows, Caroline received her graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
What do you do for fun?
I love learning about new places. When I have the chance to travel, I love to follow the local newspaper on Instagram, read a fiction book by a local author, and find a popular musician from the area. Since travel has not been a safe option for a while, my husband and I have been driving to all the sites of Kathryn Tucker Windham’s 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey.
What was your most meaningful service experience in college and why?
When I was a junior at Samford, I registered for a service-learning course called Restoration Literature. The class compared the aftereffects of the urban renaissances in Britain and in Alabama by reading texts from 17th century England and by serving with Impact Alabama in rural areas of the state. The work we did made the texts relevant while the readings gave context to the service. This experience forced me to recognize how systems and policies affect generations of citizens and prompted me to ask what my responsibility is to change this.
Name and describe a memorable place you’ve been.
In 2019, I went to Northern Ireland with a group of college students and colleagues. Before traveling, we studied how Civil Rights leaders during The Troubles in Northern Ireland used the frameworks provided by SNCC and the SCLC in the Deep South. While in Northern Ireland, we saw the beautiful countryside and historic sites, but we spent most of our time learning from those who experienced The Troubles. I learned from our partners in Belfast, as both of our societies are still dealing with the repercussions of human rights offenses. I’ve been fortunate to travel before, but this experience added a significance to sightseeing that I had not experienced before this.