Yilang Zhang

Our school provides yearly trips to different countries for community service and global engagement. For the Vietnam trip, we had a chance to visit a rural area of the country and engage in community services. We dug holes in the villages and installed solar panel lights for the village to be able to support the village working and walking at night. Before we installed the light poles, people had to either rely on navigating through the darkness without any lights or purchasing flashlights to be able to see at night. However, with our contributions, we were able to provide support to the villagers. We also learned many Vietnamese traditions, including cooking Vietnamese food, weaving simple arts, and learning and performing traditional Vietnamese dance. Throughout this trip, I understood a new kind of tradition and a new perspective on the world.