Rotary Scholar urges alumni to stay connected

By Rotary International

Kathleen Plaza's own This Close portrait

Kathleen Plaza’s own This Close portrait

By Kathleen Plaza, Rotary Scholar

I was born and raised in a rural barrio (neighborhood) in Mindanao, Philippines. I moved to Guam when I was about 18 years old. I became a member of the Rotaract Club of the Marianas in Guam when I was completing my undergrad degree in biology, and served as secretary in 2011-12 and as youth services director in 2012-13.

I moved to Hawaii in August 2015, and with a Rotary Scholarship funded by a global grant, began taking classes in public health, focused on disease prevention and treatment. I will finish my program in May 2017.

I have always been interested in ending polio and finding ways to help our club make a difference. Rotary’s This Close campaign is inspiring and resonates with my dream of developing and promoting programs that address health care needs and decrease the occurrence of communicable and vaccine-preventable diseases in medically underserved communities like the barrio where I grew up. As a humble immigrant from a developing country, I want, in my own way, to Be a Gift to the World.

The global grant scholarship is helping me achieve that goal. I have tremendous support coming from …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

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