A/N – Thanks to some1tookmyname for the read through
Same disclaimer
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Describe an experience you have had living or working in a diverse community. How might that experience help you to contribute to the life of a university community like Georgetown's?
In my family, the length of upcoming school vacations dictated the intended destination. Shorter vacations usually meant staying in the United States. My father wanted us to enjoy, what he called, the quintessential American destinations like The Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, even Disney World as well as baseball parks, and driving across country. My mother went along with this but I had many passport stamps before my tenth birthday.
My mother is Doctor Temperance Brennan. She is a Forensic Anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institution. She has worked with the FBI and my father for last 25 years. Her idea of vacation varied from my father's. Every summer, we would pack our bags for a month and headed to a destination like Maluku, Indonesia or Chuylu Hills of Kenya or Mumbai, India. My father always joked with my mother about how his trips seemed shorter. My mother would always respond with "that's because they are."
When I was thirteen, we headed to Cange, Haiti. Having been there before, I remembered some of the Creole words to say hello and how are you? We lived within the settlement housing of Partners in Health. We slept on cots. The blankets were wool, never quite comfortable for sleeping, but they kept us warm. They were donated through church groups and other aid organizations. I remember we'd have to get so many shots for vacations.
These vacations were more like humanitarian trips. We would help feed the communities, carried supplies from hospitals to families in need. The people of Haiti, the poorest of the poor, a place tuberculosis and cholera ran rampant. Most of the population remained unvaccinated. The roadways were not great, so we walked to most places. We would work with the Haitians and aid groups to rebuild houses and hospitals. Rebuilding from an earthquake decades before was never quite finished so children had no opportunity to go to school.
These experiences helped shaped the person I became. My parents instilled a sense of duty, of truth in myself and my brother. Of course, we could have protested about going on these trips, we didn't though, it wasn't worth it. My father always said that for that month we are walking in someone else's shoes. The shoes may not fit, they may be ugly, they have holes and no laces but it made you a better person for doing so; you never knew if someone else would. I think these experiences will contribute immensely as I study at Georgetown.
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