STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford junior Brandon Kier traveled to China over the summer with the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement (ACE) Program, which provides one-time funding for accepted Stanford and Duke student-athletes to participate in a three-week, immersive summer service experience with an international community partner. Here is his reflection.
This past summer, I got the opportunity to participate in the ACE in China service program alongside a handful of other Stanford and Duke student-athletes. During our time there, we traveled all over the Shangri-La region, adventuring through mountains, festivals, markets, monasteries, and more. These cultural enrichment activities proved to be some of the most unique and memorable moments of my life. Each day was a new adventure. At the same time, we were busy planning and running a sports/English camp for the local kids, which turned out to be a fun and valuable experience for both us and the campers. We also spent time at night listening to lectures from various members of the research center where we stayed about Tibetan culture and the area that surrounded us. The balance between cultural enrichment activities, education, and camp was exceptional.
The camp component of the trip reminded me how much I love working with kids. Despite feeling a little exhausted when I got up in the morning, the kids' energy would always rub off on me and allow me to give 100 percent. Now, I will prioritize making time to do similar service work in the future and share the message with my teammates about how important and fulfilling service can be.
What I think I got most out of this experience, however, was an opportunity for personal growth. Spending three weeks halfway around the globe gave me a chance to reflect and think about who I am as a person. I came into this program not knowing any of the other student-athletes and also knowing that I would be around this entirely new group of people almost 24/7. This made me focus a lot more on my impact on others. From the moment we all met at the airport, everyone was eager to hit it off with one another and have a great ACE experience. We quickly bonded over our love of service and adventure. All of us carried our own unique perspectives, and I loved hearing about each one. Overall, I feel like I am a better person because of this experience and have a better understanding of who I am.
ACE in China was an unforgettable experience that taught me a lot about Tibetan culture, community service, and myself. My hope is to use all that I learned from this program to help propel my relationships forward in the future and encourage others to get more involved in service. I can't thank ACE enough for the opportunity.
-Brandon Kier, '20