Where It All Began

It is hard to believe that this journey is about to start.  More than a year of preparing, applying for the scholarship, going through interviews, being selected, and going through training for a trip of a lifetime.  When I first started thinking of applying for a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship I wasn’t even sure it would be possible.  

To understand my involvement with Rotary International, I really should start back to January 2010 lounging in the Honors Program Building at Lamar University.  I was waiting for a meeting to start and enjoying not having any homework yet in the semester.  Dr. Kevin Dodson, the Honors Program Director, walked through the room to pour a fresh cup of coffee, turned to me and said, “Do you want to go to Belize?”  Of course my answer was yes, as I had never been out of the country, and he responded by saying, “Okay, we need to get you into Rotaract.”  My younger sister, Elisabeth, was also in the room and we both started asking about this student organization.

Rotaract is a service club for men and women ages 18-30.  Clubs are either community or university based and sponsored by a local Rotary club.  Rotarians and Rotaractors work together as “partners in service” to promote peace and goodwill throughout the world.  Rotaract clubs support community service projects and work toward international projects across the world.  At Lamar University, my sister and I quickly fell in love with the small but strong hearted club that stood for the international motto of “Service Above Self.”

When I became an official member of Rotaract, in March, I decided to get involved as much as possible.  I worked with a variety of service projects including the END POLIO NOW campaign and the Southeast Texas Soap Box Derby sponsored by the Spindletop Rotary Club, and fundraisers to support Camp Believe in Belize.

In May 2010, Elisabeth and I were able to travel to Chunox Village, Belize for the international service project Camp Believe.  The Rotaract president that year, Jennifer Mikel, graciously gave up her place on the trip so that Elisabeth and I could go together.  With our advisor, Teresa Simpson, set out for Belize.  Camp Believe started as a soccer camp for students in the Chunox Village.  After helping with the camp a Rotaract student was so inspired, he came back to Texas and raised enough funds to provide 10 scholarships to students so they could complete high school.  This year Teresa gave me the opportunity to plan and coordinate all of the activities we did with the students.  We taught career exploration activities and team building to 6th grade students of the Primary School in Chunox.  We also worked with the scholarship recipients of St. Viator High School in team building and leadership activities.

That trip was where it all began for me and the journey to becoming a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  Toward the end of the trip in Belize, Teresa told me about the scholarship and suggested I seriously consider applying during the summer.  After seeing how much of an impact Rotary has had across the world, even through smaller clubs such as Rotaract, I started researching the scholarship and application process.

After completing the seventeen page application, three essays, four interviews, and three levels of the selection process, I was selected as a 2011-2012 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Glasgow, Scotland!