Peabody Rotary Club's Ambassadorial Scholar for 2005

Check out Jessica's Travel Diary!



Jessica with the Peabody Rotary before she leaves for Tanzania,
August 8, 2006.

Jessica Glynn and Herb Harris at Northeast Link.

 Jessica at the podium.

Jessica Glynn and RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar

President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar
Sweden

Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, a food broker, is the former owner of Gust. F. Bratt AB. He has been a member of the boards of several companies and served as chair of the board of a local private school. A Rotarian since 1974, Stenhammar is a member of the Rotary Club of Göteborg. He has served RI as director, district governor, chair of both the Permanent Fund Committee for Europe and RIBI and the Presidential Celebration Committee — Peace and Tolerance, general coordinator of the Literacy and Education Task Force, member of the Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force, and PolioPlus National Advocacy adviser. [Spouse: Monica]

A letter from Jessica to Peabody Rotarians is below.

Dear Peabody Rotarians,

I am honored and privileged to represent our club as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for the 2006- 2007 year. When I heard about this scholarship, I knew it was the perfect opportunity. Rotary allows their scholars to study anything of interest to them, allows time to do community service, and most importantly provides a network of friends in any country that you go to. It was the most unique opportunity out there and has turned out to be even better then I could have imagined.

Over the last couple of months, I have been able to meet many other rotary scholars from all over the world. They have all been brilliant and motivated people who no doubt will one day be leaders in their home countries or in the United Nations. I’ve also been able to represent Peabody to other clubs in the Washington, D.C. area. I paid a visit to the Washington, D.C. rotary shortly after I received notice of my scholarship. Not only did they welcome me unconditionally, they needed help in their office and I was able to work with them for about a month. With such a diverse membership including ambassadors and top officials, my time with the D.C. rotary was an ambassadorial experience in its own right!

Everyone I’ve met through Rotary has been extraordinary! The community ideals that encompass the Rotary spirit create a network of genuinely amazing people. From the Interactors that I’ve come in contact with to the RI presidents, there is a common spirit of truth, understanding, and compassion.

I am thrilled to be a part of this family. I look back to the RYLA weekends I attended in high school and remember how the spirit of rotary motivated me then. I can only assume that my time as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar will be filled with this spirit and that the experience will be the most important of my life. I thank you again for this amazing opportunity and for being such genuine people. I look forward to coming to speak to you in the future.

Happy Holidays and well wishes!

Sincerely,

Jessica Glynn

Jessica's Bio

Ambassadorial Scholar Bio

As a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar for the 2006- 2007, I have been awarded a one year scholarship to study at an international university. I plan to research alternative development practices in Africa preferably at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The Rotary scholarship allows for a unique opportunity to gain hands on experience in learning and also the opportunity to connect with Rotarians abroad.

Community service has always played a large role in my life. Each year as a child, my family and I would participate in charity walks and drives to raise money for hunger relief, the school, and the community.  When I was 14 years old, I was sponsored to travel for one week to an extremely impoverished community in the Dominican Republic for a building project. This experience changed my life.  We worked in the village of La Romana, taught classes for local children, worked on the structure for new church, and learned about the Dominican culture.  The experience helped me to realize how easy it is to help a community and how much a small group of people can do.   Throughout high school, I continued my community service and involvement in student government. I was chosen for the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, Girl’s State, State Student Government Day and I won my high school’s “Positive Contribution to Student Life” Scholarship. 

At George Washington University, I served as an Americorps volunteer with the Jumpstart tutoring program. I gain work experience and leadership experience in Washington by serving as an intern for Congressman John Tierney on Capitol Hill. I volunteered on campus in the student group, Class Council and off-campus with Inner City Outings, a Sierra Club program.

My junior year of college I chose to expand my horizons by studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.  At the University of Cape Town, I had the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective and learn more about international issues. When I returned to Washington, D.C. for my senior year, I secured an internship with Freedom House, an international non-governmental organization that promotes freedom and democracy abroad and knew that I needed to continue my studies with an international development focus.

 Currently I am living in Washington, D.C. working for the Pro Bono Institute at the Georgetown University Law Center. The Pro Bono Institute acts as a catalyst to increase legal services for the poor and disadvantaged. In the future, I would like to work in international policy, possibly for the United Nations or another international organization. Whether as a member of the law and justice community or a government official, I hope to work in a field that benefits humanity. After Ambassadorial Scholarship term, I would like to return to the United States to go to law school, using my studies in Africa as the context for my concentration.