Volunteer Reflections: Amy

Greetings, Starfish supporters! This summer we are especially excited to share the reflections of our current cohort of Starfish interns, who are supporting us in our social media and fundraising projects. Today's post comes from Amy, who is a member of our Summer 2015 Social Media Team. She helped to coordinate our recent webinar!

I am incredibly lucky. I am about to complete my third-year at a prestigious, liberal arts college where opportunities are just waiting for me to take advantage of them. I have access to excellent academic resources, faculty, and study abroad options at my fingertips.

I’ve also been fortunate enough to attend and volunteer with Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) for the past four years. Through volunteering, I was able to meet and hear Beth speak about Starfish and learn more about her cause. Every time I hear the statistics and realize how many Ecuadorian students don’t have the opportunity to reach higher education I’m shocked to the core. These students have the same drive to learn as I do – it is only outside circumstances that prevent them from attaining their goal.

When I learned of the internship opportunity for Starfish, I knew this was my chance to help. I was already aware of the extreme poverty that these students were dealing with, and working as a volunteer intern for this organization was my way to get involved as much as I could from my small hometown in Pennsylvania.

 I am so excited to be working with other volunteers to increase awareness of an organization that puts education first. I cannot imagine a life without life-long learning or access to the educational system that I had previously taken for granted. I was one person in a crowded room of people, inspired, after hearing about The Starfish Foundation. If I can make a post on social media, urging people to learn more or donate to the cause, and one more person gets involved, I will have succeeded. As an intern, I want to give the gift of education to these scholars as it was given to me and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.