Quandalasha Fambro
Quandalasha Fambro spent 4 weeks studying abroad in San Jose, Costa Rica. During that time, she experienced things she only dreamed about. Studying abroad turned out to be the most exciting experience of her life. Quandalasha had the opportunity to volunteer at a local elementary school in San Jose. There she was exposed to many hardships that many Costa Ricans faced. The conditions of the school, as well as the lack of preparedness of the students were some of the issues. Though there are similar issues in the U.S., they were not even remotely close to what she found in Costa Rica. The elementary school did not have proper roofs, which posed a major problem, especially during rainy season, which coincidentally was the season in which she visited. Most families in Costa Rica could not afford to buy the materials needed for their children’s educational experience. Thus, many students did not do so well. Some parents even opted not to send their children to school at all. Another hardship faced by students in Costa Rica was the lack of food. Many students did not get the opportunity to eat during school hours. This is something that is not common in the United States. Quandalasha immersed herself in the Costa Rican culture and was able to gain a deeper understanding of it, while at the same time improving her Spanish. This opportunity was one that has truly had an impact on Quandalasha’s life and on her road to professionalism and leadership.
CEE Title: Without a Trace
Our CEE project entitled “Without a Trace,” was designed to empower our community. Our program sought to educate the audience on the issue of drug trafficking and how it affects both our communities and societies all over the world. Our program contained four portions, a guest speaker, a roundtable discussion, a PowerPoint, and a jeopardy game. We created a PowerPoint presentation using information that we researched about drug trafficking in our respective countries. The jeopardy game consisted of five levels; level one being the easiest, and level five the hardest. We extracted questions from the jeopardy game based on the PowerPoint presentation, pamphlets and the presentation of our guest speaker, Officer Thompson. Our guest speaker Officer Thompson spoke about drug trafficking, what happens after it is trafficked, how he catches perpetrators, and the penalties that they may face. He also brought along with him Officer Drake, his K-9. We also, had roundtable discussions facilitated by members of faculty. These discussions were centered on ways to combat drug trafficking in our community, and how it affected us in the United States.