CLAIRE DRESSELHAUS

Azusa Pacific University, B.A., Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Throughout her undergraduate studies at Azusa Pacific University, Claire was always on the go as an athlete on the acrobatics and tumbling team, a leader on two community development trips to Mexico, an employee and member of APU’s Honors College, and a participant on two study away programs—an outdoor leadership semester in California’s High Sierras and a semester in Ecuador. Despite all this activity, she still managed to graduate a semester early with highest honors. During her four months in Ecuador, Claire fell in love with the country and the culture, and often spent her weekends exploring and hiking. Born and raised in the beautiful coastal city of La Paz, Mexico, Claire feels very much at home in Latin America. Claire’s passion for travel and learning from other cultures has led her to a number of unique international opportunities, including working on a private luxury motor yacht in the Mediterranean, and her current position as a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Colombia. As her grant in Colombia comes to an end, Claire is sure of one thing: she is not ready to leave South America. After this summer’s trip to Ecuador, Claire hopes to continue working in an international setting, particularly in the nonprofit sector focusing on disaster relief, community development, and sustainability. She is fluent in Spanish and currently learning French.

NICOLÁS WIRTH

Johns Hopkins University, B.S., Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, M.S., Engineering Management

Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Nicolás came to the U.S. at age 18 to go to college at Johns Hopkins University. While attending JHU, Nicolás was part of the university’s Engineers Without Border’s chapter and participated in six trips to Ecuador to build a daycare center in the community of Santa Rosa de Ayora, in Cayambe. After finishing his master’s degree Nicolás moved to Denver, where he has been serving in Americorps as a Math Fellow. In this role, Nicolás teaches ninth grade math in small groups of 2–4 students. He hopes to become a full-time classroom teacher upon returning from leading this summer’s Putney program.