In the original blog series XYZ with Q, Quanzhi “Q” Guo ’18 visited current and former Benton Scholars to learn about their interests, passions, and accomplishments. Now, Alumni Memorial Scholars have joined the party!  In this post, Q visits Michael Rodriguez ’19 to give out free hot chocolate on Friday morning.

It’s getting chilly at Colgate—the time of year when the air lets you know it will soon be fall. And nothing, seriously, can beat a complimentary cup of hot chocolate (with marshmallow melted on top) handed out near the chapel steps on a brisk Friday morning. 

Little did I knew that Alumni Memorial Scholar Michael Rodriguez ’19, from Grandview in Washington State, was that guy who made the race to 8:20am classes so much more comforting, especially in the middle of the snow.

On a bright Friday morning, I joined Michael for hot-chocolate. To every person who passed by, he flashed a big smile. To Michael, small acts of kindness are one way he gives back. “When people need help, I usually go all-out to help them,” he said.

If you are scrutinizing a Colgate map and Michael walks by, chances are he will not only tell you the way, but also take you wherever you are going, for real.

Back in his hometown church, Michael volunteered as a waiter for Christian camps, worked as a dishwasher and server for local high schools, and helped the elderly as a handyman by washing cars, changing light bulbs, and installing new appliances.

When I asked Michael why he does all these kind things, he was actually a bit puzzled. “If people need help, why let them suffer. Why not try to help?”

To Michael, to help is to give someone a little bit of happiness. “We are all human beings, we all have emotions, we all go through the same sort of things. I think lots of issues today are caused by people not being nice to each other,” he said.

Michael is really humble about his deeds, and it took a while to coax him into telling me what he has done. “You can say all you want without doing anything. And I remember my father always telling me ‘do your best, forget the rest,’” he said.

Outside of class, Michael is also an admission tour guide and hosts prospective students overnight, because his positive visit convinced him commit to Colgate. “I want to give back to the Colgate community by helping others discover the wonders of Colgate,” he said.

Now a prospective molecular biology major and a German minor, Michael wants to be a healthcare professional in the future, probably in family medicine. “Though it’s not the most glamorous (in the medicine field), I like the doctor-patient interaction,” he added.

As an AMS scholar, Michael hopes to attend the Freiburg Study Group and use his AMS funding to study the German healthcare system. “I want to see the differences between the US healthcare system and the German one. From what I learnt, they prioritize preventative measures so you’re not sick in the first place and don’t need to go to see doctors. If you feel overstressed, you can go see doctors and they will prescribe you a vacation!” he said.

Michael’s interest in healthcare comes from seeing his grandmother working at a family clinic when he was a child. To him, this is another way of giving back to more people. And as the hot chocolate barrel is emptied and the last cup of hot chocolate is given out, I am convinced that giving is better than receiving.

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The following post is by Jenny Nguyen ’19.  Nguyen used part of her AMS grant to return to her home country of Vietnam and work as a tutor at an English teaching center.

This summer I applied for AMS funding to work as a tutor for the Junior Program at YOLA Institute, an English teaching center in Vietnam. Over the course of three months, I had the chance to teach English to over forty kids, all middle-schoolers with various levels of English proficiency. I instructed them in any lesson for which they were absent in class, trained them in any lacking skills, and prepared them for upcoming standardized tests when necessary.

Classroom at YOLA Institute: Before…

It felt quite surreal to teach something you are still learning yourself. English being my second language, I’m used to struggling with the fast and boisterous speech pattern of native speakers. Now I found myself slowing down, using simple phrases and clear pronunciation so that my students could keep up. I would explain to them basic concepts that I had taken for granted, would wait while they haltingly read a paragraph full of errors, or when some refused to speak altogether because they were frustrated with their own limitations. I like to remind them that they can accomplish anything with patience and constant practice (though I would change the subject if they asked whether I followed my own advice).

It was also an interesting professional experience. Though not quite new, the Junior Program underwent a lot of changes this summer with regards to organization and personnel. A lot of the people I worked with were still figuring things out themselves. This led to no small amount of confusion and misunderstanding. As we worked together to sort out the kinks in the system, however, we started to meet one another halfway and resolve our conflicts.

…and after

Being back in Vietnam after a year abroad definitely afforded me a different perspective. There are many things I used to know instinctively that I had to relearn all over again, like the bus schedule or the location of my favorite restaurant. I almost had an accident multiple times crossing the street (traffic culture in Vietnam is very different from Hamilton; if you ever visit our country, stick to the traffic lights). I also consumed an unhealthy amount of traditional dishes and spent the first month in strictly air-conditioned environments. Being away from home for the first time makes you appreciate everything old and familiar, as any college student knows. But the new experiences I gained in college also constitute a part of me that I treasure. (I held the door for my entire friend group, which had about fifteen people. They thought this was very strange, but I kept doing it anyway.)

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