Jeanne Radicone is the supreme extreme of good people. She is of course only human, but if there is a parallel that one could cross as a reward for being more than just merely human, she is at that crossing and might not even know it.
Radicone is a senior double major, elementary education and special education, and is ready to take an unusual journey after receiving her diploma this month. Radicone has always had a natural instinct of service and in two months she will be dedicating 11 months of her life to service. Lumberton, NM , which is three miles from a Jicarilla Apache reservation, will be Radicone’s new home while she teaches the second grade at a small private school.
“I’ll be teaching in a self-contained classroom,” Radicone said, which means she will be teaching her students every subject from gym to history, all in the same classroom. The principal of the school told Radicone that 95 percent of the children in the school are of Spanish descent, which enthralled Radicone because she is also a Spanish minor. “Hopefully after 11 months, I will be fluent,” she said.
When asked about how she came to her decision to do service work before starting her career, Radicone smiled and said, “I love doing service. You benefit so much from doing nice things.”
The idea came to her at the start of her junior year, and then just “continued to build,” she said.
Radicone was involved in many of Cabrini’s community service events, including Project Appalachia and the Border Experience. These service projects were a factor in her decision to continue with service. “After doing Project Appalachia, I kind of felt there was something more I could be doing,” Radicone said.
Radicone wasn’t scared to tell her family and friends about how she would be disappearing for the next 11 months. “I have a very supportive family and supportive friends. My brother was so excited for me. He said, ‘I had a feeling that you would do something like this.’ He’s proud of me and is going to miss me,” Radicone said.
