By George Minkowski
When she wasn’t zip-lining or chilling on beaches, DHS Senior, Kathy Grasser, was having an incredible experience that “colleges totally love to hear about.”
Her trip was through a company called “Tropical Service Ventures.” Kathy, along with 11 other citizens of the world, surfed, snorkeled, rafted, and re-painted a wall at a school in a rural village for 30 hours of community service. The trip cost over $5,000 excluding airfare, but Kathy tells Flipside reporters, “You can’t put a price on helping others… or a perfect college admissions essay.”
“When I saw the devastating poverty in the village, that’s when I realized how hot it was outside. It was so painful for me there, especially because I got paint on my favorite pair or weekend jeans. The villagers or whatever have no idea how hard I worked to paint that wall and should be forever grateful that I chose to spend my summer doing a trip like that.”
Although Kathy may seem like a saint, she did however miss out on one service component on the trip. The group was going to help teach English to some students in a village 3 hours outside of San José but they decided it would be better if they were all well-rested for their Salsa lessons the following week.
But because the Common Application has a 250 word limit on her essay, Kathy will be omitting that detail and instead focusing on her “Mother Theresa like generosity.”
The Flipside got a chance to interview an admissions counselor at U of I to ask her how far Kathy’s philanthropy would get her. “Community service is important to us, but we like to see a bit more– wait! Did you say she painted a wall at a school in a rural village in Costa Rica?! Oh my gosh! The second coming!”
