Rebecca Ierardo, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, volunteered at the Istanbul Refugee Center for ten weeks. As a volunteer, she attended the Moms and Tots program at the Center which was a program specifically for refugee mothers with young children. Rebecca connected mothers with similar stories and backgrounds, watched over children, served food, and helped with administrative duties in order to provide a safe community in which the women could socialize and feel comfortable. She was also a volunteer in the soup kitchen through the Center where she cooked and distributed meals to refugees. For Rebecca, this was a once in a lifetime experience. She said: “I consider this experience the most valuable thing I have taken away from my semester abroad. Learning the value of simply connecting with people does more to strengthen a lost soul than any amount of money or food could ever truly equal. We call this civic engagement for a reason: so that we truly invest ourselves in the welfare of individuals not merely on a practical level, but also on a spiritual level.” As well as gaining this incredible insight, Rebecca also said the Refugee Center “taught me how an all-encompassing community can better the lives of all people, the servers and served alike. I hope to carry this knowledge into any future volunteer work I perform.”

Contributing Blogger Samantha DeTore, ’15 Arts and Sciences