| Service Learning: Student Stories |
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AQ Graduate Turns Love of Service Learning into Work with the Peace Corps |
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Before taking part in the Spectrum Scholarship competition, Alene Seiler ‘08 had never visited Aquinas. Alene, a Kansas native, was impressed with the faith, support, involvement, and strong liberal arts education that she found in the Aquinas community while attending the competition. “That’s when I fell in love,” she says, reflecting on the experience.
With a double major in communication and Spanish and a minor in journalism, Alene has taken full advantage of the many opportunities |
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| offered at Aquinas. She recalls fond memories that include: playing in her first collegiate volleyball game, classes with favorite professors, road trips, homecomings, spring formals and a semester in Costa Rica with a host family who took her in as one of their own. “To this day, I refer to [my host parents] as ‘mami’ and ‘papi’ in phone conversations.” |
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| Alene also warmly remembers her various volunteer experiences that allowed her to get involved in several communities. Her freshman year, Alene began two years of volunteer work with the Red Cross. Afterwards, through the AQ Modern Languages Department, she found an opportunity to work in an after school program with children from the local Hispanic community. During her sophomore year, Alene traveled to Peru with Casa Hogar, and during her 2008 spring break went with a group of Aquinas students to Louisiana to help with relief work related to Hurricane Katrina. |
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| During the fall of 2007, Alene interned with the Eastown Community & Business Association. She spent the spring 2008 semester working for a local elementary school as a Spanish translator, both in the classroom and at parent-teacher conferences. This experience, said Alene, has been very rewarding. “I got to work with children whom I adore and I learned so much about the Hispanic culture and community in Grand Rapids.” |
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| Undecided on what type of work to pursue after graduation, Alene was influenced to join the Peace Corps after her roommate applied and was accepted to the program. “I’ve always wanted to give back and serve with all the things that I’ve learned and this was my chance.” Alene will begin her 27-month Peace Corps commitment in August at a yet-to-be-determined location in Latin America where she will work on an agricultural project. |
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| Alene credits her Aquinas experience as influential in her decision to pursue this type of work, noting that her studies in communication and Spanish have given her knowledge and experience in an intercultural atmosphere. “My studies have given me independence and a self-strength that I didn’t know I had before. I can’t forget the emphasis of service at AQ, which has always been an inspiration to me and an encouragement to give back what has been given to me.” |
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| After graduation, Alene returned home to work and spend a few months with her family before beginning her work with the Peace Corps. “It’s honestly going to be hard to go back to Kansas, because as they say, there is no place like home. And I think of AQ as just that - my home.” |
