Jesuit Volunteer Corps

alumni feature, international service

Teaching, A Two Way Rhythm of Give and Take

By Michela Bryne

(Peru 2005-07)

JVC staff visit to Peru (2011)

I WAS INSPIRED TO MAKE EDUCATION MY FULL TIME CAREER through my two years serving as an international JV in Tacna, Peru. Though challenging, I found teaching to have a beautiful two way rhythm of give and take. I loved trying to tailor lessons to students who were struggling and I was inspired by students who took information I gave them and were hungry for more.

When in Peru, many students I taught lived without running water or electricity, some were eager to learn English and some were not. As much as I was initially confounded by how to teach, I began to be delighted by their varied personalities and willingness to teach me about themselves, their families, their culture and their country.

Now, my students in the US come from various backgrounds and poverty here looks different. Poverty here is two families crammed into a small apartment, it’s having to move schools when the rent runs out, it’s having to stay home from school to take care of your little sister so an adult can go to work. I love that teaching puts me in touch with students from all different backgrounds, allows me to know experiences that are different from my own in a personal way and gives me a direct opportunity to help.

I wouldn’t have considered teaching as a profession had I not been a JV. JVC’s international program gave me the confidence that I had something to offer students and continues to be both a foundation and a hope spring for what I do now.

READ MORE

  • volunteer stories, legal services

    "Through the lens of the four values of community, simple living, social justice, spirituality, I can’t help but think of the social justice work I am engaging in at OPD. I am working in a system that often targets communities of color in the name of safety and protection."

    Read more⟶
  • Jen Washle (San Diego 2018-19)

    alumni feature, education

    "Even though this season of teaching looks different, the vocation that I know God has called me to is still the same. JVC's value of simple living has propelled my ability to adapt to the struggles of distance learning. The perseverance that comes with simple living has also been monumental."

    Read more⟶
  • Sheila Gainer (Brooklyn 2003-04) and her family.

    alumni feature, community development

    "JVC hadn’t been an interesting gap year where I was able to live in New York City and use all my good Samaritan skills to “help” people who needed help. It was a year-long, daily agitation, and instruction in the profound and purposeful inequality in America."

    Read more
  • Photo by Brianna Santellan on Unsplash

    alumni feature, vocational journey, ministry

    "It was in Detroit I learned that we worship a God who gets her hands dirty, who cries over the injustice of the world, who gets angry when we torture each other the ways we do."

    Learn more

  • volunteer stories, community

    "I have found such joy in loving and serving the Lord, evermore recognizing his good works and blessings in my life. We find our strength, our joy, our identity, our purpose, and our mission in our active relationships with Jesus."

    Read More