June Brings Fresh Starts, Open Hearts, and Sunny Adventures

From my various work experiences, I have learned that the quality of the time spent in the workplace is highly influenced by the people you work with. Last summer, I worked in a restaurant where team members changed depending on the shift, and some nights were most definitely better than others depending on who it was you were leaning on.

The inspiring people I work with at Ayuda play a large part in why I love working there. The majority of the Ayuda family is made up of women and it is incredibly inspiring to see such strong, smart women hard at work. One day, I hope to be just like each and every one of them. I am impressed by my supervisor Marilyn’s dedication to her work in the office every day, but I am also moved by her dedication to her family and community. I especially like listening to her stories about visiting her family in El Salvador.

This week I got to learn more about my team members when we drove to train medical professionals in how to request interpreters with experience in interpreting for those who have experienced trauma. At the training, it was wonderful to see how passionate Marilyn (my supervisor) and Jessie (my manager) were about helping people understand why language access is so important, in this particular case, in the medical field. During the car trip back, Jessie and Marilyn told me about why they love working for a non-profit like Ayuda. They love knowing that every day is different and that you never know what the day is going to hold, having a direct impact on a person’s life, and collaborating with so many different entities for one common cause: rebuilding immigrant lives (something Ayuda has done since 1973).

The highlights of my week were eating lunch with my team members, helping them pack their files with anticipation for our move to downtown Washington D.C. (expanding is bittersweet considering we will be saying goodbye to those staying in Ayuda’s Takoma office), and exploring the Georgetown area this weekend with old friends from Wake Forest and new ones from Tulane and Davidson.

– Sophie Leruth (Class of 2019)