Lauren Masset received a 2018 Student Service Award at the college’s Student Wellness Retreat, April 5-7, in Albany, N.Y.

Masset sees an inextricable link between service and happiness. She believes that as one serves others, the capacity for happiness grows. Therefore, she has been a volunteer and member of a number of groups fulfilling needs in the community. As a young woman, she was a junior member of the West Seneca Environmental Commission, the first to act as such.

Masset is pursuing a master’s degree in Social and Public Policy, with a certificate in Child Family Advocacy.

She became an associate member of the West Seneca Environmental Commission and helped coordinate and plan community-wide events such as the Earth Day Shoreline Cleanup. Later, she became a voting member. When the West Seneca Environmental Commission teamed up with the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers to protect the Oxbow wetland, she began coordinating efforts and was named chairperson of the Buffalo Creek Oxbow Wetland Field Club. “I believe this position sparked a new understanding and ensured me that watching others learn and succeed was something that brought me happiness, as well as providing me an overall sense of pride,” she said.

In 2013, she started a Cans for Community Drive, which is an annual food drive today.

In 2014, she was appointed to the West Seneca Youth Board with a two-year term. The youth board later coordinated with the West Seneca Stakeholders coalition to see how to serve youth in the community better. This gave Masset a way to hear from youth within her community. “It was hearing them speak that confirmed that my work on the youth board was necessary and making an impact,” she added.

Masset also has found time to participate in the SUNY Empire State Leadership Institute, which worked on a variety of projects impacting the community, especially DUI and DWI.

When a drunk driver killed a woman’s husband, the coalition sprang into action. “Just like myself, someone else experienced hardship and turned what could have been negative energy into service,” she said.

Recipients of the Service Award must be a matriculated student at the college and have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA. They must also list up to three organizations in which they have significant service and involvement.