Volunteer: Glenda Blaisdell-Buck
Program Site: Cape Town, South Africa
Year: 2008
Occupation: Teacher
Teacher Glenda Blaisdell-Buck found her way to South Africa in 2008 with Cross-Cultural Solutions through a grant she was awarded through the North Carolina Association of Teachers. She went with an arsenal of professional skills that she acquired throughout her career, but she came home inspired to do even more.
After teaching English to 6th graders, and observing the needs of an under-resourced South African school, Glenda found a true passion with helping people in the process of learning different languages. Once home, she wanted to make her teaching career more meaningful and decided to get her English as a Second Language (ESL) certification.
Today, Glenda teaches ESL in an under-resourced middle school in North Carolina. She also speaks to teachers at education conferences, sharing her experience abroad and explaining how it can impact their teaching skills. Several of her fellow volunteers, also teachers, recently gathered for a reunion to discuss how the experience impacted their lives and careers. In addition, Glenda feels that her CCS experience helped her to realize that we shouldn’t be narrow in what we want to do, instead, we should dream big and live intentionally.
