Tessa Biskup
Major: Sociology and Spanish
Class Year: 2016
Katelynn McDowell
Major: Psychology
Minor: Biology
Class Year: 2015
This week’s campus celebrities are not surprising because they are very well known in the Siena community, but Katelynn McDowell and Tessa Biskup are both being featured for a completely different reason. Both of these women recently lead a service trip over Spring Break to the Dominican Republic, where they taught English to children living in poverty. In the weeks and months leading up to the trip, they raised money and collected donations to bring down to the children, filling 12 suitcases with their successful efforts. Because of their hard work and determination, it is no question why they are this week’s campus celebrities!
Katelynn and Tessa recounted their experience for Her Campus Siena and they have some key advice for anyone who is even considering doing a service trip. Read on to find out more about these extraordinary women!
HC: What was the main inspiration that compelled you to go to the Dominican Republic on a service trip?
Katelynn: I have never been on a service trip, did not know what it entailed and a lot of my friends went on the trip so I just knew I had to go. They had such an amazing experience and it was life changing for them. They talked so highly of the sisters, the children, and the things that they did. It was very special and sacred to them. I knew I needed to go on this trip this year so I started saving bottles; I started recycling so I could pay for it. I audited a Spanish class, and this was something I knew I needed to do in my life. Just for my own personal growth, I knew I needed to do this. It was a desire and a drive.
Tessa: I first heard about the service trip through my involvement at the Woman’s Center, but my freshman year was when I was inspired to go on a service trip. During orientation I met this senior student and she had a Tao Cross. She had an amazing life of service while being at Siena and I was so inspired by her that I knew I wanted to be more like her; I needed to earn a Tao cross. This year was my first opportunity to go on a service trip, and it was worth every second of the wait, I wish I could have gone sooner! It was such an awesome experience and I met amazing people like Katelynn!
HC: So while you were down there you worked with children. Tell us about the experience, and what the kids have taught you.
Katelynn: It is so hard to just talk a little bit about the kids; we could go on for hours! Every time I think about it, it brings me to tears!
Tessa: I know! Everyone was filled with graciousness. It’s not just the kids we worked with. We worked with adults in the community and every day we would walk from the place where we stayed to the convent, and we would say hi to people on our walk and stop to talk with them. We got to know a lot of people in the community and even though they had so little, they were so happy and so gracious. That was something I definitely learned from them. I just realized how much we take advantage of in our everyday lives.
Katelynn: Yeah, I can only echo what Tessa said. It was a very humbling experience and I think all of us were honored to be there. Although we were spent months gathering donations and money, and planning to bring all these things to this trip and ideas to the children and people in the Dominican Republic. I think we gained more than what we had brought down there. I gained so much love and it was so educational. It was a bunch of words I can’t even begin to describe to you! I can literally just sum it up and say this was a life-changing experience for me. I guess that I can say I truly lived the seven days that I was down in the Dominican Republic. It was a successful life those seven days.
HC: How hard was it to get donations and to raise money?
Tessa: We worked so hard to get donations, and everyone that came on the trip with us did an amazing job of reaching out of their comfort zones to fundraise. We called on organizations, our friends, family, and the Siena community for help!
Katelynn: The Siena community was so gracious with their donations and we have so much already for next year’s team. We were told that when you go there, you won’t ever feel like you brought enough and that was so true. I feel like they could not give them as much as they gave to us. Whether it was food, love, gratitude, knowledge, and acceptance.
Tessa: It was like giving everything you could and knowing you still couldn’t give enough in return for what we got back from the trip.
HC: What would you say to anyone considering a service trip?
Tessa: DO IT! Why are you thinking twice about it? It helps you see life more clearly. When you’re doing service for others and you see how happy they are, it makes you see life more clearly back home. It reminds you of what is really important in life.
Katelynn: Yeah, not even considering it, like why haven’t you done it already? I literally told all my friends that they needed to do this next year. Like it wasn’t a “maybe”, or a “you should think about it”, it was “you NEED to do this.” This needs to be on your bucket list before you graduate Siena; you need to do some kind of service trip once in your life. Especially the Dominican Republic because it was amazing! There’s a Ghandi quote, and this is kind of cliché, but it’s “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” This trip truly embodied that, and I’ve always used that quote because it was how I felt when I did service here, but I didn’t fully experience that until I got to the Dominican Republic. It is a gift, and it is an honor if you get to experience a service trip. Especially all the opportunities Siena offers it’s students.
Tessa: Whether you’re at a Habitat for Humanity build, or teaching in the Dominican Republic, whether it’s at home or in another country, it is worth every single second of the experience.