Monday, January 26, 2009

Meet Melia



Family: I was born and raised in Washington, D.C. but Nashville, Tennessee has been my home for the last nine years. I have one sister that lives in Kentucky. My parents and the rest of my family live on the west coast, in California, Oregon and Washington state.

Education: I graduated from a small college in Ohio, where I played soccer and ran track. My major was communication studies and my minor was women’s studies. Six years after graduating from college I travelled to Costa Rica to learn Spanish and to travel for three months.

Professional History: I have been in the National Service field for over 10 years. I began my service as an AmeriCorps member in Arizona. AmeriCorps is our domestic version of the PeaceCorps. I continued my service within other service agencies as a youth advocate, outreach coordinator, trainer, and administrator working with women, children and senior citizens in Arizona and in Washington state. I moved to Nashville, Tennessee to direct an AmeriCorps program at Vanderbilt University, working with the elderly. For the last four years I have been working with Volunteer Tennessee, the state service commission. Our office supports AmeriCorps programs and service-learning initiatives across Tennessee. I direct a service-learning leadership program called Aspire. I work with diverse groups of high school students across the state providing leadership training. These students address issues in their schools through service to create a positive school climate. I love what I do and the students I work with.

My Passions: I love travelling and meeting new people! I really enjoy spending time learning about other cultures and countries. As our world feels “smaller” as technology allows us the ability to connect at higher rates of speed I believe it is increasingly important to make connections at the human, personal level.
My other passions include anything athletic. I am very active and enjoy being outdoors. I love to run, mountain bike, adventure race, play soccer, hike, and camp.

Professional Interests: I am interested in change through service at the local, national, and international level and my professional mission is to foster youth leadership development through service. I want to learn how schools and communities in Argentina use the service-learning (aprendizaje-servicio) methodology as a learning tool and how they encourage their youth to serve as agents of change in their communities and country.

My unrelated interests are alpaca breeding and wine making – yes, really! I do not have experience in either of these fields, but I am very curious to learn more about both of them.


Nació el 30 de abril del 1974 en Washington, D.C. Cursó estudios en una universidad pequeña, The College of Wooster, en Wooster, Ohio, dónde se graduó en Ciencias de La Comunicación y Estudios de La Mujer. Unos seis años después, viajó por San José y la comunidad de Durika, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica unos tres meses para aprender al español. Posteriormente encontró su vía en servicio comunitario nacional por la AmeriCorps, la cual es igual al Cuerpo de Paz, sólo centrándose en temas dentro de los EE.UU. Durante los últimos diez años, Melia ha servido como Defensora de la Juventud, Oficial para la Ayuda Comunitaria, Entrenadora, Administradora Encargada de Mujeres, Niños y Adultos Mayores, y ahora tiene cuatro años como Directora de un programa de aprendizaje-servicio, dedicado a desarrollar liderazgo en los estudiantes del secundario por todo el estado de Tennessee. Su programa se llama Aspire y es parte del grupo estatal, Volunteer Tennessee, que promueve voluntariado y servicio comunitario. A ella, le encanta su trabajo y a los estudiantes quienes usan el metodología de aprendizaje-servicio para crear un ambiente positivo en sus escuelas.

Melia disfruta mucho conocer de varias culturas y países. Ella cree que mientras la tecnología facilita nuestras comunicaciones, valoramos las conexiones personales de cara a cara. Según su propósito principal de fomentar liderazgo de la juventud por aprendizaje-servicio, le interesa cómo, dentro de la práctica docente de Argentina, alienta a los alumnos a que se encarguen de sus comunidades y de su país.

Melia le gusta mucho estar al aire libre, jugar al fútbol, hacer excursionismo e ir de camping. Otros intereses en el futuro incluye la cría de las alpacas y de producir el vino.

No comments:

Post a Comment