While living during a pandemic, it is hard to wrap your head around finding a way to create change in this world. It is even harder as a young person to take the first step of starting a project, since in-person guidance isn’t an option anymore and reaching out to people via phone or email might take too long. LearnServe’s Global Summer Fellowship filled this gap for many young people this summer by discussing all of the social issues that students felt passionate about and guiding them on creating a solution for their community.
It is always good to see a LearnServe notification, as it always reminds me of young people creating change in their community. When I received the opportunity to intern this summer I immediately replied – yes. I was excited to start hearing all of the innovative ideas and helping the students break down their social issues to a solution.
In 2018, I was able to be a part of the LearnServe Abroad program to Zambia. My experiences there are unforgettable and the connections I created are forever to have. Until this day, I still keep in touch with some great friends from Zambia. After experiencing this in person, I was definitely thinking, how would culture exchange work virtually?
After just a few meetings this thought blew away – the students quickly seemed to have gotten comfortable expressing themselves and their projects. I was happy to see that students quickly understood, just like I did when I was a student, that LearnServe programs are full of support to help them in any area where they might feel stuck.
At the end of the four weeks, listening to all the students from Zambia and the U.S. pitch their ventures, I felt proud as an intern. Through the month, I saw them go through the process of identifying the problem, researching it, and personally connecting with their venture. It’s incredible to think of how quickly a young person can learn something within a four week program, which just shows how much a young person is capable of in this world. Most importantly, the experience of cultural exchange was still visibly present throughout the program, and everyone felt a sense of community.
I strongly believe that although this summer the program was held virtually, everyone left with a cultural exchange experience, from the discussions that they took part in throughout the program, and from the visible sense of community we built in the four weeks.
Tony González
Montgomery Blair High School
LearnServe Fellows 2017, Zambia 2018, and Intern 2020