living OUR MOTTO AT TAFT living OUR MOTTO ACROSS THE GLOBE

Meet Tania

HOME TOWN: PERSHOTRAVENSK, UKRAINE

PASSIONS: GLOBAL SERVICE AND EDUCATION

COLLEGE: YALE UNIVERSITY

“I never thought that my community service experience could go beyond my home country,” says Tania. “But then I saw a movie where some of the main characters traveled to another country to teach English and thought, ‘Maybe one day…’ Once I came to Taft, I realized that ‘one day’ had arrived.” With support from a Poole Grant, Tania traveled to Sri Lanka where she taught English to a group of young monks in a local Buddhist temple. “My class was about 15 boys, ranging from the age of 9 to 13,” Tania says. “The monks had not had language lessons on a regular basis before, so I was teaching them basic grammar rules about sentence structure and questions, and teaching them some words, describing food, animals, professions.” Tania also spent her afternoons working in an orphanage for girls, some as young as 6, none older than 18. Through both experiences, Tania came to a deeper understanding about the true nature of service. “I understood that volunteering is not about changing the whole world, but about changing something in the world of a small group of people and, with it, changing something in yourself.”

Meet Fiona

HOME TOWN: TAIPEI, TAIWAN

PASSION: SCIENCE, MEDICINE, PUBLIC HEALTH

Fiona has been pursuing her interest in public health and medicine since middle school. Her hope has always been to make a difference while strengthening communities. The first step, Fiona believed, was to make the science of medicine more accessible. She did so by building an online education community through her science-based, research-driven YouTube channel. At Taft, Fiona has continued her community-building and education work, both online and on campus. “I founded the Public Health Club because I wanted to bring more medical information to the school community,” Fiona says. “The club’s mission is to spread awareness about underfunded diseases, and to share crucial medical information with the school community and beyond.” Fiona and Public Health Club members have partnered with local community health organizations to provide a range of healthcare services to underserved populations throughout northwest Connecticut, including COVID-19 education and resources developed using federal funding secured by a community partner. “It has been so exciting to be able to expand our impact in such meaningful ways,” Fiona says. “I am beyond happy and grateful that the Taft Public Health Club has been so successful and so well-received.”