Anna Cornacchio’s Biographical Service Statement

I am Anna Cornacchio and I am a Junior here at Elon University. I am a strong believer in doing what you love and in an academic sense, fueling your personal intellectual curiosities and passions to the fullest extent possible. It is because of this belief that I feel that my academic specializations have come about: I am double-majoring in International Studies and French and double-minoring in Non-Violence Studies and Political Science.

I am very much interested in international community development and to what extent, humanitarian aid can contribute to local and national policy development in different actors-be it at the state level or within a particular international organization, for example. I am a Periclean Scholar and have performed community-service related to our focus-country which is Sri Lanka. The fostering of an international partnership between communities is often key to the implantation of effective foreign humanitarian aid.

One of the reasons why I applied to Elon was the university’s commitment and the level of student involvement in community service. Although it is sometimes difficult to find and make the time to perform community service, I always find that it is a truly rewarding endeavor in two ways: first of course to the people or organizations in which you are aiding, but also to yourself-knowing your capacity for positively-affecting others is a wonderful revelation.

Most of the community service that I have performed has always centered around children, whether tutoring, mentoring or coaching, I sincerely love working with kids; their perspective is so pure and honest, and their energy; refreshing.

It has been since my freshman year that I have been interested and determined to participate in this Winter Term study-abroad program: The Call of South Africa. I am eagerly looking forward to our experience there, for the cultural and historical learning opportunity, but also the opportunity to get involved with community service!