Grace Hildebrand

International Experience Country:
Czech Republic
Cohort Year:
2013
Home Institution:

Thiel College

Heinz Programming Area:
Arts and Culture
International Experience Summary:

Grace Hildebrand spent six weeks living and taking classes in Prague, Czech Republic. She had the opportunity to explore a mysterious and interesting culture. In her History of the Czech region and Central Europe class, she was able to gain insight into how the Czech culture developed into what it is today and she was also able to meet an incredibly inspiring woman as her professor. In her free time, she traveled to smaller cities within the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland learning more about the cultures, but also learning about the sobering history of WWII and all that comes along with it. She faced daily challenges, most of which revolved around communication and language. However each time she overcame one of the many daily challenges, she became more empowered and confident in her own independence. Grace learned that she was more capable than she gave herself credit for. This experience completely allowed her to accomplish her goals of the program, and to gain invaluable experience she can share with and use to inspire other women.

Community Engagement Experience Summary:

CEE Title: Meandering the Maze

For our CEE, my fellow cohorts and I hosted an empowerment workshop, called “Meandering the Maze” geared towards girls and young women of the community. We worked with the girls through doing activities, such as: journaling, making inspiration boxes, and filling those inspiration boxes. We followed up each activity with small group discussions, sharing personal stories, and letting the girls ask questions. Our goal for our CEE was to create an open and loving environment for the girls to get comfortable and leave any fears at the door. We wanted to provide them with mentoring and tools that will empower them to cultivate healthy relationships with themselves, their bodies, and with others.

For our CEE, my fellow cohorts and I hosted an empowerment workshop, called “Meandering the Maze” geared towards girls and young women of the community. We worked with the girls through doing activities, such as: journaling, making inspiration boxes, and filling those inspiration boxes. We followed up each activity with small group discussions, sharing personal stories, and letting the girls ask questions. Our goal for our CEE was to create an open and loving environment for the girls to get comfortable and leave any fears at the door. We wanted to provide them with mentoring and tools that will empower them to cultivate healthy relationships with themselves, their bodies, and with others.