Guadalupe Resendiz (BSW '18)
Guadalupe Resendiz didn’t waste a second of her senior year in the Texas Woman’s social work program. In between a packed class schedule, Resendiz also explored her passion for volunteer work. After discovering the International Studies Abroad (ISA) program, an education abroad affiliated partner with TWU, Resendiz found an opportunity to merge two of her passions - school and volunteer work through missions.
ISA and TWU’s other worldwide partner programs offer an immersive experience with more locations around the globe for study abroad participants. In Resendiz’s case, this meant traveling solo and living abroad for the first time in her life.
The work I did there has followed me in a way that further expands my desire to help others through social work, especially vulnerable populations such as these.
Resendiz volunteered with an organization in Costa Rica that supports the restoration, prevention and intervention of survivors of human trafficking and the men, women and children working in prostitution. Resendiz worked to bring aid and resources to these underserved communities in San Jose.
Resendiz also visited communities around San Jose, where she volunteered working and leading classes with local children.
“It was very shocking because I had only been in the city part of San Jose,” says Resendiz, “but being able to visit a nearby small town right next to where we lived definitely gave me culture shock within Costa Rica.”
It was very shocking because I had only been in the city part of San Jose, but being able to visit a nearby small town right next to where we lived definitely gave me culture shock within Costa Rica.
Today, Resendiz brings the leadership skills, cultural experiences and sensitivity learned in Costa Rica back to campus. In the future, she hopes to continue working with vulnerable populations and start her own non-profit organization.
“I gained a new passion for this population and it has led me to find an organization here locally that also advocates and works to prevent human trafficking,” says Resendiz. “The work I did there has followed me in a way that further expands my desire to help others through social work, especially vulnerable populations such as these.”
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Media Contact
Christy Savage
Staff Reporter
940-898-3254
csavage3@twu.edu
Page last updated 1:29 PM, September 9, 2020