The idea for our summer reading program started in my 10th grade AP World History classroom. My AP World History teacher grew up in the Central African Republic, and throughout the year, he would often tell us stories about his childhood and what it was like growing up there. Sometimes they were connected to what we were learning, and sometimes they were just stories he wanted to share. Either way, they slowly gave me a perspective of Africa that I had never gotten from a tex

The largest club at my school is a service organization called the Leadership Committee for Africa (LCA). That’s where it all started. During my freshman year, I applied for a scholarship to join LCA’s spring break trip to Arusha, Tanzania, and I hid the entire application process from my parents. As an international student, spring break is one of the 3 times during the school year when I can go back home to China, and I was afraid they would want me to come home instead. So