Jennifer Shyue - Bridge Year Peru
I grew up in New York City, in the borough of Brooklyn, where I also attended Poly Prep Country Day School through the auspices of Prep for Prep, a program that prepares 5th- and 6th-graders of minority backgrounds for independent school and beyond. In school, my favorite classes were English and Spanish, though I was privileged to have many incredible teachers in a whole range of subjects. Outside of the classroom, I was editor and website administrator of our literary magazine, Poly Arts Journal; a soprano in our a cappella group; and a member of Health Interns, a peer leadership group that works with our sixth graders on issues of health and community. In Peru, I hope to work with a women’s group because I love crafts, learning about people, and helping to create opportunity where it is lacking. I am so excited for everything: for perhaps becoming truly fluent in Spanish, for visiting the Incan ruins that, until now, I have only been able to hear about, and for applying the skills I have learned in and out of school but also learning from immersing myself in a new world for nine months.