Press on the audio bar above to start playing the interview between me and Shannon Carman- Student Director 2016.

Interview

I interviewed Shannon Carman who is this year’s Student Director.  Shannon spoke to me about her past experience on the trip and why she is looking forward to going back. Below are some of her thoughts:

On the rewarding/learning aspects of the experience:

“What was cool about working on each of those projects is that we got to go to each family’s house and sometimes we would go back to the same house multiple times so we got to go around the village a little bit and meet the families of the houses.”

“It was definitely a long day… but what was really rewarding about it was that we were working at the families’ houses so you knew that this latrine and this stove is directly benefiting the people we were directly working beside.”

“Getting a sense of the families’ living conditions… [was a] more uncomfortable situation.. [as you got a glimpse of the] extreme disparities in terms of our lifestyle and theirs… it really felt like you had a tangible impact [being able to view this]…”

Shannon felt that being able to interact with the families provided a sense of real reward, because she gained a tangible understanding of who the the work was directly helping.

On who she interacted with during her time in Nicaragua:

“Wide range of community members and Bridges to Community staff… sometimes the members of the community would come down to where we were staying and hang out a little bit.”

Shannon reflected on the fact that there was constant interaction between the community, Bridges, and the other Dartmouth students.

On use of Spanish language:

“[I am a] Spanish Minor [at Dartmouth]… at the time I had basic Spanish where I could understand what people were saying and could communicate things but not very fluently… felt super intimidated [sometimes].”

At the time of her first trip, speaking Spanish made Shannon understandably nervous as a foreign speaker.

On why she came back:

“I had such an amazing time the first time that I kind of wanted to come back and help other people have that same experience… Selfishly wanting to go back to Nicaragua but part of it was helping other people have the same experience… It is a really really great program”

Shannon emphasized wanting to be able to help others have an experience similar to her own. She really found value in her time in Nicaragua and wanted to provide that for others.

On what she will do differently this time:

“Do it better than I did the first time… being really present and engaging… you can always do better with that… Spanish speaking skills are better now… interacting more with the Nicaraguans.”

Shannon wants be ever-present this time around and wants to increase her interactions with Nicaraguans.

On her takeaway from the experience:

“The most important takeaway is applying [what we learn]… Being able to experience [what we have learned] on the ground and in person is much more impactful… This trip changes your mindset”

Shannon reflected on the fact that being able to apply what you have learned was a very unique experience.

On her goal for the trip:

“Hope that everybody can really ‘soak it up’, just be fully present, really just take advantage of the time you have there.”

Shannon’s goal for the trip is to make sure everyone is fully engaged and present and taking as much from the experience as they can.

—-

Overall, Shannon really emphasized the importance of taking on the experience “head-and-hands-on”. She talked about how the trip has tangible effects that have the power to change how you live day-to-day. Being able to bring back what we learn on the trip is incredibly important. We should all aim to be fully present and take in as much of the experience as we can.  It is service-learning after all.