“Megan Mishler is a rising junior studying Spanish as her major and Education as her minor. Through the generous funding of the Mahoney Family, she worked as a teacher in a small community, which is connected to an organic coffee farmed owned by Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill Eichner, Finca Alta Gracia,  in the Dominican Republic.”

This summer I worked as the teacher in a small community in the Dominican Republic. The community is connected to an organic coffee farmed owned by Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill Eichner, Finca Alta Gracia. About ten years ago coffee proceeds were used to build a small library on the farm, which is where I spent the majority of my summer. An internship that allowed me to work with kids (ages 4-16) and at the same time practice my Spanish allowed me to practice what I had learned in the classroom at Middlebury, putting educational theories into practice as well as improving my Spanish.

Day-to-day the main focus in the library was literacy, although I tried to vary activities – often leaving the walls of the library or biblioteca to do things such as play games outside, do special art projects, or practice math by buying snacks at the local store. Additional projects I organized include a two-part activity for young moms in the community with a presentation on how to make bizcocho de guineo maduro (banana bread) followed by a discussion on the importance of reading to children in the home. I also set up a volleyball net (often taking kids to play in the late afternoon), as well as helped to construct a clay oven.

Without a doubt, I learned a lot from this internship and had a very meaningful experience. The most significant thing I learned was the importance of being flexible in such a developing community. Often times classroom activities that are successful with students in the United States simply did not work well with the kids living on the farm, and I would have to change my plans on the spot. Although hard at times, I think this flexibility has helped to make me a better teacher. The most meaningful aspect of this internship was the improvement I saw in my students from the time I arrived to the time I left. Every morning the kids would knock at my door, call out my name, and ask when they would be going to the library to have class. This excitement was a constant reminder that I was making a difference, in addition to their parents telling me that their children were reading better and of course recognizing a change in students reading levels and knowledge myself.

Before the internship I had been planning on getting my doctorate in Spanish and being a Spanish professor, however after the internship I have been thinking a lot about if I would want to pursue a career less academic based and more service based. I am now exploring masters programs in international development and education as well as community and regional planning. I think this is because the experience put me in touch with a community that has greatly benefited from outside help and resources and I realized that helping such communities while continuing to be working with kids is something that I would really love to do.