Special Highlights
Above and Beyond
Brazilian Culture Club
Vice- president of Operations
Upon my return from my study abroad trip to Brazil, the Portuguese department recommended me to engage with the Brazilian student community as secretary of the Brazilian Culture Club. After the first three weeks of the semester, the board members and I thought that the Vice President of Operations position was necessary to describe my efforts better. I was enthusiastic about engaging with the Brazilian community and Portuguese language learning students at Florida International University. I planned Portuguese karaoke, movie and encouraged students to attend lectures and conferences offered by the Portuguese department.
Image: FIU Brazilian Culture Club volunteers at Fundação Vamos Falar Portugues
Alternative Breaks: Guyana
Site Leader
My experience as a site leader feels all-inclusive to multiple skills, global learning opportunities and experiences. My responsibilities prior to reaching Guyana was more administrative as I organized events, planned group bonding opportunities, fund raised and kept my team and I on track to successfully aboard flight.
Once we arrived in Guyana, we helped the International Children's Outreach teach children about self-love, gun abuse, and domestic violence. We did physical labor in the morning through beautification projects for the community center and then transitioned to an educational, reflection focused mentality once the kids arrived after school.
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I feel fortunate to have had this opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and learn new skills from conflict resolution to crowd-funding, social media advertising, international communications, and nonprofit management. I am thankful for FIU Alternative Breaks and the Founder of the International Children's Outreach, Onica Charles, for providing this opportunity to many other students and me.
The CLEO Institute
Certified Climate Change Speaker
The Cleo Institute, a Climate change speaker certification, allows me the credibility and confidence to educate others on the urgency and importance of being conscious of our carbon footprint. The environment and our climate are extremely receptive to our actions, and many do not know how to be apart of the change needed. I hope to educate and motivate others to live sustainably and change our accustomed habits.
The International Leadership Association
Conferences Intern
One morning I am researching organizations ( NGOs) in Peru and another, contacting restaurants in Canada to host a group of members with philanthropic interest. My internship with the ILA was always intriguing and allowed me to realize my interest for working abroad and communicating with different cultures and communities. I discovered my strong ability for self-motivation and individualism as my supervisor worked remotely and I mastered my time management and virtual communication.
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Fortunately, I was able to work on their 20th anniversary global conference while living in Washington D.C. and then attend as their volunteer coordinator after in the internship at West Palm beach. The ability to work diligently in the office and see it come together was an encouraging moment to continue to work within the nonprofit sector!