Coach For College by Laura Patterson

1.  June 4th-June 30th
 Ho Chi Minh City  Hau Gaing Province,
Mekong Delta Region
 Students ages 10-15 (6th-7th grade)
 Physics Teacher
 Soccer Coach
 August 6th-15th
 Tucson, Arizona
 26 Students
 Windsong Peace and
Leadership Center
 Advanced Facilitation
Training
 Social Justice Training
 Permaculture Education
 Border Wall Debate
A special thanks to the Brown Foundation and
the University of Louisville for making this
possible. I would not be the person that I am
today with out their support. Also a special
thanks to Dr. Elmaghraby, Andrew Grubb, and Dr.
Karen Hadley for helping me formulate this plan
and make this trip a reality.
Previous Projects:
 2011-2012: Gap Year: Volunteer, Student,
& Teacher (Hopi, Colorado, New
Orleans, Ecuador)
 Summer 2012: Turkey: Student
 Brown Fellows Class of 2016 group trip.
 Summer 2013: Me to We: Volunteer &
Student (Canada & Ghana)
 Summer 2014: Coach for College:
Volunteer & Teacher (Vietnam)
Me to We: Student (Arizona)
What do you want to be when you
grow up?
You can be whatever you want.
The opportunities we are given here in the United
States make that statement true. Inspired by the
American Dream, kids grow up with a passion for
competition and the ability to try new things to
figure out what exactly they want to do. In rural
Vietnam however, the kids do not have the exposure
to recreation sports, the encouragement to pursue
higher education, or the luxury of choosing their
path. Coach for College works to inspire youth to
take their destiny into their own hands and dare
greatly. Partnering American Student-Athletes with
Vietnamese University students CFC gives youth the
opportunity to play and to learn at a three-week
summer camp each year.
Who are you now, and what does
that mean?
At Advanced Facilitation training I was again
immersed into an entirely different culture, but this
time it was invented by the program Me to We. I
spent 10 days becoming intensely aware of my
privilege in our modern culture and global society.
Through modules, we defined not only our place in
the world, but how what we do affects the world
around us. We were exposed to the effects of desert
migration into the USA, the magic of permaculture,
the creation and success of counterculture, and the
travesty of inequality that is created by inherent
oppression. During this training I learned skills that
help me lead others in a unique way. We were
trained to facilitate conversations and activities in a
unique way that empowered individuals and groups
to come to new realizations and perspectives.
World Map – Enrichment Projects, Service And Travel:
Arizona, New Orleans, Colorado, Ecuador, Toronto, Ghana, England, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Thailand.
We look back on slavery and the slave
trade and cannot believe the cruelty of
mankind.
What will people look back to 300 years from today
and think of us?
Each day at CFC we went to camp with one goal in mind:
Let’s help the kids learn something new, whether it was the
Doppler Effect in physics class, a two-touch pass in soccer, or
perseverance with a wall sit, we were happy because we were
giving kids the opportunity to be just that: kids.
I learned so much in Arizona at AFT, about the
world around me and my self. If there is one single
truth however, it is that you cannot have peace in
the world until you have peace within your self.