There are a million ways to spend a semester of gap.
In recent years, students entering the College of General Studies, who take a semester in the fall before arriving at Boston University in the spring, have climbed Mt. Fuji, produced movies, even joined the Boston Celtics dance team.
However, in a pandemic, the options are more limited, but that didn't stop the 611 incoming students this year from finding creative ways to spend the fall.
“Students plan their own short semester experiences with the guidance of our team of academic advisors,” says Chelsea Feinstein, CGS marketing and communications manager. “This year, we have students who founded their own nonprofits, got internships in the fields they hope to enter, volunteered their time, and traveled safely. Intermediate semesters are very valuable, even during COVID-19. ”
BU Today spoke with four incoming CGS students about how the pandemic forced them to ditch their original plans and turn around. From Chicago to Hong Kong, this is how they made the most of their semesters without pandemic.
Inés Santacruz (CGS'22), Mexico City, Mexico
At her home in Mexico City last spring, Inés Santacruz couldn't help feeling lucky. His family had largely been spared the economic devastation caused by COVID-19, but he was well aware that families in his country were struggling. Mexico, which already has high poverty rates, was hit hard by job losses related to the pandemic. Government aid was meager and slow to deliver, leaving many households in dire circumstances, and rural communities felt the worst effects.
Santacruz wanted to do something to help. In late spring, he learned of a competition from Banco Santander inviting high school students to submit proposals to help offset the economic impacts of COVID-19. She and her friend Sofia decided to go in, but they needed a concept. Santacruz recalled a conversation she had had with her family's cook, Nadine, who had told her that her home state of Michoacán was plagued with unemployment, especially among women. The two young women wondered, what if they could hire women in Michoacán to make a product that they could sell?
![A photo of Sarina Zaparde talking with other uniformed girls "class =" wp-image-293579 "/>
<figcaption> Sarina Zaparde (CGS'22), here with some of the girls her organization helped, founded Dress to Learn, a non-profit organization that provides free school uniforms and shoes to orphaned girls in India, after of observing a staggering gender imbalance in rural schools in India. Photo courtesy of Zaparde </figcaption></figure><p> Growing up, Zaparde visited his father's native village in central India every year, where he observed the obstacles girls his age faced in attending school . That's if they could go first: In rural India, it is not uncommon for families to fund a son's education, but not a daughter's, by keeping girls at home for domestic and agricultural work. There is also the threat of being sold as sex trafficking or servitude, to which poor and isolated women and girls are particularly vulnerable. Zaparde realized that having access to education could have a great impact on a girl's future</p><p>.</p><p> Arriving home from one of those high school trips, Zaparde had an idea. With the help of her parents, she founded Dress to Learn, a non-profit organization that provides free school shoes and uniforms to orphaned girls in rural India. As its website explains, schoolchildren in India must wear uniforms to ensure fair treatment for all students, and the price of uniforms is often a barrier for girls, especially if they are orphans.</p><p> “I thought the least I could do was try to get uniforms [for these girls] so that they could complete their education within their village,” says Zaparde, explaining that simply donating money or school supplies is not 'It is useful because villagers often sell items donated or use funds for other purposes. "This way, they have to wear a uniform because it is for their own specific school."</p><p> The cost of a uniform and shoes is $ 7. Since 2016, Dress to Learn has partnered with approximately 75 school clubs across the country to host fundraisers, such as walks, car washes, and talent shows, and has donated uniforms to more than 1,000 girls. The uniforms are ordered from local tailors, "so we also help the town's economy," says Zaparde. Shoes are measured on site and distributed from the Dress to Learn supply. As boys get older, she does her best to ensure that the same groups of girls get larger sizes every two years.</p><div
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