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Kubichan traveled to Ghana, West Africa during J-term 2010. |
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Kubichan is also a four-year volleyball player for the Yellow Jackets. |
Randolph-Macon College student Jill Kubichan ’10 was presented the Spirit of One award at the Hanover Board of Supervisors’ annual Spirit of Volunteerism Celebration. The event, which was held at Hanover High School on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, honored individuals and organizations whose exemplary volunteer efforts benefit Hanover County.
Kubichan was honored for her work with the Hanover Safe Place, which offers services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Hanover County.
“I've been working with Hanover Safe Place since my sophomore year when I did a Bassett Internship, which was coordinated through R-MC,” says Kubichan. “After my internship ended I decided to continue working at Hanover Safe Place.” Kubichan responds to phone calls from sexual-assault victims and domestic-violence victims and she is sometimes on call 24 hours a day for seven days straight. She also provides office coverage and public education on the services that Hanover Safe Place offers.
Kubichan, who is majoring in sociology and women’s studies, got involved with Hanover Safe Place because she has a passion for social work. “Someone in my family is a survivor,” she says. “I got involved in outreach because my family member didn’t have the resources needed to get help. I want to educate as many people as possible about the options they have if they are trying to get out of abusive relationships.”
Her work at Hanover Safe Place spurred Kubichan to conduct important research during her senior year. “I looked at the acceptance of rape myths in high school students,” she says. “I noticed that if students are better educated about sexual assault they might be less likely to get into a situation where they become a victim or assailant. This inspired me to research how much high school students really know about sexual assault. My research will be distributed to the Hanover County schools and family life teachers.”
At the awards ceremony, Kubichan was lauded for her dedication and hard work. The following is an excerpt from the program: “The results of her research will be used by Hanover Safe Place to direct further work with high school students. Through her volunteer experience, Jill not only made a difference in the lives of individuals in crisis, she discovered her passion for social work and is now applying to graduate school to pursue this career. Jill’s impact on the community is evident now and will continue to be felt in the future.”
Kubichan, a Virginia Beach, Virginia native, is also a four-year volleyball player for the Yellow Jackets. Last year she was second-team all-ODAC and this year she was the number one libero (defensive specialist) in the ODAC conference and received first-team all-ODAC conference and second team all-state.
She will attend graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall. “I will be studying sociology, with a focus in domestic violence,” says Kubichan. “I hope to continue doing research on sexual assault and domestic violence and to work with agencies such as Hanover Safe Place.”
For information about R-MC’s Bassett Internship program, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/Academics/internships/index.aspx.
For information on R-MC’s sociology program, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/academics/sociology.aspx.
For information on R-MC’s women’s studies program, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/academics/womens-studies.aspx.