Alex Mott is paying back the lessons he learned from his role models by becoming a role model himself and donating anywhere from 15 hours a week to 200 hours a summer of his time to volunteer organizations.

“She always knew I could do better,” Mott said of Karen Radke, his high school’s community service club adviser and role model. “And she always knew I would be the one that would step up and be involved and be the one you can count on.”

Mott has gone above and beyond those expectations. He volunteers for more than five organizations and has put his volunteer work before class on more than one occasion.

“I put work for organizations before school work a lot of the time,” Mott said. “I probably do about 15 hours of volunteer work a week, and I’m taking 15 credit hours this semester, but I’ve taken 18 the past two. Honestly I don’t know how I even make time, I just do.”

Because of this dedication to service, Mott was recently awarded the Student Volunteer of the Year award from the university.

“I’ve always just wanted to help people, and I love seeing change in people,” he said. “I’m an early childhood (education) major because I want to teach kids to give back to the community and to help get kids involved at a young age, so then maybe they can become future leaders and care for each other and help each other as friends.”

Mott, a junior, volunteers and works at the Childhood Development Center on campus where his presence has become influential to the children he interacts with.

“Alex is a great role model for the kids,” said Jodi Moncaco, toddler classroom teacher at the Child Development Center. “These children are so young and impressionable, and Alex really shows them how you should respect one another and how to resolve conflicts.”

Mott’s desire to encourage others to get out and volunteer doesn’t end with the children at the CDC. He is also a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, where he is community service chair.

“I like that our fraternity does something called adopt-a-school and our philanthropy is ‘Bleed Purple,’ which is based off a brother who was battling cancer.

“They’re big reasons why I joined. Last year as part of the adopt-a-school program, we rebuilt the toddler playground at the CDC, and it really meant a lot to me that my brothers came out.”

Mott’s fraternity brothers are supportive of the work he does.

“One thing about Alex is that he does so much that goes below the radar,” said Phil Wuebold, Mott’s fraternity little and best friend. “He’s one of the most genuinely nice guys I know, and there is nothing too big for him to do, he’s the kind of role model anyone should be looking up to.”

Some other organizations Mott is involved in are Relay For Life, Colleges Against Cancer, USG crew supervisor and Cochlear Americas. Mott was responsible for the re-establishment of CAC on campus last year and has some very personal connections to the other organizations he gets involved with.

“Both of my grandparents are survivors of cancer,” Mott said. “At first I was just a relayer, then I moved on to team captain and joined the relay committee, and last year and this year I’ve been logistics.”

Cochlear Americas also has a deeply personal connection for Mott.

“I was born profoundly deaf,” he said. “Honestly, without a cochlear implant, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Mott’s volunteer work with Cochlear Americas involves him taking time to speak with children and parents about the benefits of cochlear implants and his experience.

“He’s very organized,” Wuebold said of Mott. “Most people would be flunking out, and he’s still doing very well.”

Mott’s drive earned him the award from the university, and to Mott, it is a big thank you for all he does.

“It means a lot because it means that everything I’ve given back to Kent State University, my volunteer hours, my commitment, my dedication and what I’ve done, that they actually notice who I am and appreciate it,” Mott said. “This is like their way of saying thank you so much for everything you’ve done, and that means a lot to me.”

Contact Student Recreation and Wellness Center reporter Amanda Klitsch at [email protected].