The student files
Clackamas student Cassandra Garcia-Torrez talks about her time in Africa
BY TOM BOGGESS
Cassandra Garcia-Torrez is a freshman at
Clackamas Community College. Garcia-
Torrez toured, studied and taught in East
Africa, all paid for by a scholarship that
r is now available here at CCC, the Gillman
I International Scholarship.
The Clackamas Print: How did you get
this oppertunity?
Cassandra Garcia-Torrez: The scholarship
was offered to me by writing an essay and
being interviewed. Originally, I wanted
to go to India, but I was the last one to
sign up, then I registered to go to Central
America, but the Gillm an Scholarship
would not support the trip fully because it
included Honduras and it was considered
terrorist territory, so I was moved to East
Africa instead.
TCP: How did you go about getting this
am azing opportunity?
CGT: I applied for the scholarship, which
was only available at Portland Community
College and Mt. Hood Community College.
It was a long process of writing essays,
seeing if you met all the requirements,
like seeing if you were a first-year student,
saying why I wanted to go there and what
I thought I would get from the trip.
TCP: W hat was it like for you to adjust
to your new e n v ir o n m e n t?
CGT: Upon arriving in Uganda, in East
Africa, adapting to the new environment
was a tad difficult at first with jetlag and
getting sick upon arrival and adjusting
to the time change. After a few days of
adjusting I was up and ready to see what
was around me.
TCP: Where did you go during your trip?
CGT: We landed in Entebbe which is [a
city] in Uganda. That is where we visited
a special needs school for the blind and
deaf. That’s when I decided that I was
going to learn sign language. From there
we went on to Rwanda, Tanzania and
Zanzibar.
TCP: W hat did you do while in Africa?
CGT: For the first few weeks, we were
in the schools doing literacy tests and
playing with the children. After that we
were doing building projects for them,
like playgrounds and working on their
classrooms. During one of our “ free”
times we took a scuba diving trip. We
spent time doing clean-up projects.
TCP: W hat were your living conditions
as you moved from country to country?
CGT: We stayed in hostels, camped for a
week in the mountains while we trekked
in Lake Bunyonyi, we stayed in a fancy
hotel one night and were able to use a
toilet and shower after not having those
for many weeks.
T C P : W h a t w ere
experiences?
you r
fa v o r ite
CGT: My favorite part was without a doubt
being able to see what it’ s like in other
countries, what beautiful places are taken
for granted. I loved being able to scuba
dive for the first time and in another
country like Zanzibar was so beautiful.
TCP: W hat was it like for you to adjust
back to life at home after 90 days away?
CGT: I found m yself in a depressed
state of mind. This was something that I
was not used to feeling as if no one had
understood what I was going through.
Jum ping back into school and work,
immediately after returning, was the best
and worst decision I made. It gave me the
chance to talk to people and keep myself
busy. Yet on the other hand, it was very
much strictly business with school and
work. I didn’t have much time to stand
around and talk, as I thought that it would.
I had forced myself, on free times, to go
out and just talk to people whether they
wanted to talk or not.
This interview was edited for clarity and space.
ON THE COVER: The six-hour flight from Portland to Kona offers plenty of time for homework. Photo by Saige Keikkala. Design by Brandon Chorum.
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