ACE in Vietnam 2018 alums Alyssa Marsh of the Duke Women’s Swimming & Diving Team and Eoin Gronningsater of the Duke Men’s Fencing Team were named Duke’s Senior Male and Female Student-Athletes of the Year for their success in athletics and excellence in the classroom. The two sat down with the Blue Devil 360 Podcast and spoke about their time at Duke and how their ACE experience inspired them to pursue careers working with Teach for America post-graduation. Marsh had this to say about ACE and the impact on her future plans:
“I wouldn’t be doing what I’m going to be doing as a teacher next fall if I wasn’t on that program. [ACE] developed me as a person. Exploring that rural area of Vietnam and diving into their culture was so incredible…I learned so much and grew a passion for education I didn’t realize I had. My favorite part of the whole thing was being in the classroom with the kids teaching English. Eoin also taught English and we worked together on lesson planning. ACE definitely pushed both of us to pursue work in that area [education].”
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