Hi from Amy

Hi everyone,

My name is Amy, and, along with Katherine Hoffmann, I'm one of the VILA co-presidents for 2007-08. I volunteered at Casa de la Ninez during summer 2007.

My experience in Quito last summer has infused so many aspects of my life this year. Every time I see an Ecuadorian flag, meet someone who has the same name as one of our kids at Casa, or think back to humitas and Crepes & Waffles, I long so much to be able to return to Quito right away!

I'm graduating in a few weeks, but I'll be at Stanford one more year in the STEP teaching program. I hope to work with English learners during my year of student teaching and once I start teaching next fall. My experience with VILA definitely improved my "kid vocabulary" in Spanish, as well as reassued me that working with kids is definitely what I want to do with my life.

While I'm posting, I just wanted to let all the past volunteers know how much we appreciate all the contributions you made to ensuring that VILA is the wonderful organization that has made our Stanford experiences so much richer and more meaningful.

Amy Padilla