Name: Paulina Martin
Major/Minor/Concentration: History
Graduation Year: 2021
What are you doing this summer?: Maymester
What exactly are you doing?:I am spending a month in southern India. We spent the first two weeks hearing from various non-profits about the problems India faces today and what they are doing to help, and the second two weeks diving deep into an internship at one of these non-profits. I interned at Sumanahli, an organization that focuses on providing treatment and community to individuals affected by leprosy.
How did you hear about this opportunity?: I saw a sign up in an academic building at Holy Cross! The thought of traveling to a place SO different than anything I’d ever experienced seemed like such an amazing way to end my first year of college, so I sent in my application within weeks.
What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I was most excited to learn everything I could about a different part of the world. I knew very little about Asian/Indian culture before embarking on this trip. Coming here, I’ve loved forming connections and hearing the lived experiences of those who grew up/are growing up with a different world view.
What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I think coming in, I was hoping to prove to myself that I could withstand a month in perhaps the most different place I could possibly have gone. Now that I’m only a few days from leaving, I can confidently say that not only can I stand it, I can enjoy the adventure. I am coming back to Holy Cross with a greater sense of self, friends across the globe, and an even stronger desire to work with the world’s marginalized.
Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing a Maymester?: Do it. Do it even though it is scary, no, TERRIFYING. These are the experiences that will grow you beyond belief, and introduce you to individuals you otherwise never would have crossed paths with.
When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: I certainly expected opportunities to study abroad in college, but I never thought I could to India, and I never thought I could fit it in as a month long summer program that allowed me to do even MORE traveling during the school year itself {i.e. a junior year abroad in Europe}.
