Tar Heel Travelers
July 15, 2014 | Softball, Student-Athlete Development
Tar Heel student-athletes are scattered all over the globe this summer, working, studying and traveling in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America and points all over the U.S. Throughout the summer, GoHeels.com will be tracking their experiences. Check back each Tuesday for updates!
• Elly Wagner, a rising junior on the UNC softball team, spent part of the summer volunteering with the Coach for College program in Vietnam. Read about her adventures below.
Participating in Coach for College was an amazing experience! Being a Division I student-athlete makes it hard to study abroad, but being a part of this program allowed me to experience Southeast Asia and Vietnam this summer. Coach for College is recognized as a global initiative to promote higher education as student-athletes apply to teach the youth of Vietnam. The dropout rate within the Vietnam school system is very high, but this organization is trying to diminish those numbers. DI student-athletes are able to volunteer and travel to Vietnam to use their platform of a student-athlete to motivate and excite the children to stay in school and strive for higher education.
Stationed in the southern part of the country and in a very rural town within the Mekong Delta, I taught rising sixth and seventh graders in three subject areas. Academically I taught mathematics, athletically I introduced them to the game of baseball, and for their future goals I informed them with life skills. It was difficult to teach the kids at first because of the language barrier, but with the help of Vietnamese university students serving as our translators, teaching became easier. Every day, coming in to class or going outside to play sports, I was welcomed with smiling faces of kids excited to be there, and that was really heart-warming to me.
Despite my minimal Vietnamese vocabulary and the kids' very basic knowledge of English I was still able to connect with my students. Even with conversations through charades, it was very interesting getting to know them and their lives. When I decided to apply to Coach For College I knew that it would be a culture shock, but that excited me because I wanted to experience something unlike anything I ever had. Living in Southeast Asia for a month opened my eyes to small details that we take for granted and allowed me to be fully outside of my comfort zone. I learned some of the Vietnamese language, which I found difficult because the pronunciation is so specific yet to me words often sounded the same. I tried new foods while eating every meal with chopsticks, even the troublesome rice. Living conditions were also an adjustment as we stayed in places vastly different from anything in the United States.
My time spent in Vietnam working with this program was absolutely incredible! I can now say that I have fully immersed myself into a foreign culture and experienced Vietnam like a local. I have also made strong impacts on the lives of many children, which I had hoped I would before starting my journey. At the beginning of camp many of the kids had no future goals, but by the end every one of them believed in themselves and had plans to continue their education to reach their new goals. Making such a strong, valuable impact on multiple children has been the most rewarding thing so far in my life and is why I would recommend this program to everyone.
