Where would you go?
By Alli Baugher
When I began teaching at Ballou Senior High School six years ago, I asked my class in a warm-up question, “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?” A few students answered with typical destinations such as Paris and Hawaii, but the vast majority responded with places that were surprisingly close to home- North Carolina, Florida, New York and even Virginia.
I faced a harsh reality; I teach in the nation’s capital, only a few miles from embassy row, and I have students who have never seen the Washington Monument. Both LearnServe International and Ballou International, a program I founded five years ago in reaction to the specific need for global education opportunities at Ballou, have the mission of increasing global awareness, improving cross-cultural adaptability and helping students discover their role in the world and at home through meaningful international service-learning experiences.
I would imagine that most of those reading this already believe in the extraordinary impact of travel and service abroad, either as the result of personal experience or through observing the transformation of others. The service projects that students are achieving through programs like LearnServe and Ballou International are significant and the need is great in the communities we serve. Students are joining hands with other young people around the world and working to empower young women, providing environmental education, teaching HIV/AIDS prevention and improving learning environments by painting murals in schools and providing academic resources.
However the greatest opportunity for social change is in the transformation of mind and aspiration in our DC youth. They return to the DC area with a new-found understanding of their privilege and desire to have an impact on social justice issues at home. These international travel experiences are only the first step towards igniting a passion for service and interest in forming a career around the need to have an impact on the injustice they’ve been exposed to.
As President Obama stated in a call to action and involvement in service work targeted at college-aged youth, “It is how you will discover your strengths and weaknesses. It’s how you will grow. Once you form those connections you’ll find that it’s a little harder to numb yourself to other people’s suffering. It’s a little harder to convince yourself that their struggles aren’t your problem.”
In her valedictorian speech several years ago, Sache’, an alumna of two Ballou International trips and LearnServe Paraguay, reflected on the opportunity she had been given to study abroad and the opportunities that her classmates faced as they looked to the future. She commented on how she was the first in her family to leave the country and discussed the common sentiment of “wanting to get out of the ‘hood” among her classmates. She affirmed that from her experience it was extremely important to see the world, and learn as much as we can about other places, cultures, people and ourselves.
However, she concluded by saying that being globally educated is not enough and challenged her peers to go out, face the world, become the best versions of themselves they could be and then find a way to come back and make a difference at home. Programs like LearnServe and Ballou International are developing well-rounded global thinkers and providing students with much-needed exposure to the world, but most importantly, they are building change-making minds who will grow up to be the leaders of their generation and influence others to join in the work!
Sache’ Collier on her trip with LearnServe Paraguay