What I did this summer

My summer began as my semester abroad sadly ended. Having spent the previous six months studying and living in Paris, France, it was with a wistful glance that I embarked upon my summer adventures, as wonderful as they promised to be. My time abroad had encouraged me to continue exploring new cultures and learning new languages, experiences that this University has long heralded as being inherent to a true academic experience. Carolina had taken me to Paris, and its support and lessons would accompany me too as I boarded the plane for Esperanza, the Dominican Republic.

I have long been fascinated by Hispanic cultures, an interest that has only grown as I have learned more and more through my Spanish language classes. Early in the second semester, I decided to spend the summer working with Orphanage Outreach at el Buen Samaritano: Hogar para Niños Huérfanos. For those non-Spanish speaking people out there, this was a boys’ orphanage, and my work there was truly the most rewarding thing I have ever done. During my five weeks in the Dominican, I not only taught English, French (due to neighboring Haiti), and Math but befriended 37 amazing children. Most of these boys had been orphaned because of the AIDS epidemic in this country or due to various economic issues within their families. Some had been at the orphanage for years, others for a few short weeks; all needed supplemental education, guidance, and more than anything, love. Several boys had such tough exteriors, already scowling “men” at age fourteen, dismissing easily any attempt to come to know them; at such young ages, they had already faced a rejection from the people most dear to them: their parents. Acceptance of love in such a situation does not come easily, as you may imagine.

They weren’t going to escape so easily from me, however. Through our time together, one boy, Raul, read Huevos Verdes y Jamón (Green Eggs and Ham) by himself (all 63 pages!) despite not being able to read five pages when I first arrived. We organized a trip to a history museum in Santo Domingo, where the children later saw the first street in the New World, Calle de las Damas. And Tueny, who was verbally and physically abusive to others after his mother’s abandonment, began to open up and make friends. It was a summer where I truly believed miracles could happen.

This University is an amazing place to find experiences like this. In fact, I first learned of Orphanage Outreach through a volunteer email from a university informational email. Carolina is a place that does indeed encourage its students to get out there, see the world, and then change it—for the better.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, and good luck with your applications!