Skills to Take on the World.
Amanda Ekstein '13
In three years I will have a degree in hand, a wealth of experience from exploring three different international locations and the skills to take on the world.
To fulfill the service-learning requirement, part of the three-year degree path, I spent a summer in Cape Town, South Africa. I tutored students in reading, mathematics, science and information technology with a program coordinated by Students’ Health and Welfare Centres Organisation (SHAWCO), which provides tutoring programs and mobile clinics in townships across the expanse of slums known as the Cape Flats.
Participating in the Community Development program gave me a chance to figure out whether or not I want to pursue a career with a non-governmental organization (NGO). No amount of bookwork or theory learning could have made me take home the lesson of just how difficult it is to be in the development field. You get instant gratification when you see a concept click with your learners and develop a rapport with them. You can feel in your bones that you’re doing something good. When they leave, you realize that your learners have helped you more than you’ve helped them.
