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To the DukeEngage Staff and Donors,

 

Thank you for providing this opportunity for Duke students to continue learning and engaging with our communities during this time of uncertainty and instability. This experience provided me with meaningful structure to my summer, allowed me to fully and safely quarantine, and enabled me to remotely contribute to COVID-19 efforts being spearheaded by other health professions students across the nation.

When I first heard that my service learning trip to Rwanda needed to be cancelled, I was nervous about what my summer would entail. Not only was I unsure of how the pandemic would affect my loved ones and peers, but I also had a daunting four months ahead of me with no idea of how I would be spending that time. When I learned that DukeEngage Independent Projects were still an option if I found a remote volunteer project, I was beyond grateful and thrilled.

These past few weeks, I have been able to meet other Duke students – whom I likely would have never met due to COVID-19 – and learn about interesting projects they were working with this summer. As a group, we were able to think critically about working remotely, engaging with communities using technology, and learning more about the communities which we aimed to serve.

 I can confidently say that DukeEngage directly led to me to having a safe and enriching summer in quarantine, and for that, I am forever grateful!

 

Sincerely,

Camryn Thompson