From New York to Guatemala to the World

Brockport, NY, April 19, 2016 - 21-year-old Amanda Spencer grew up in Greece, NY. Her family life was typical; she has two parents and a brother, and growing up, she went to church every Sunday. While religion plays a big role in her life, helping those less fortunate than her plays an even bigger role. Instead of going to college after graduating college, her pastor encouraged her to go on a mission trip instead. That was when she went to Guatemala for the first time.

Since then, she has been to Guatemala four more times. Her most recent trip was in January. On these trips, she often helps watch the children and plays with them, as well as helps in the kitchen occasionally. Working with these children, who are often malnourished and have developmental disabilities, has helped her learn a lot about life.

Spencer's uncle is starting an organization in India helping girls that were rescued from sex trafficking, and so she plans to eventually assist him. Aside from that, she plans to travel much more in lifetime, and continue helping those who are less fortunate than her.

Saving the World, One Word at a Time

Brockport, NY, April 19, 2016 - 22-year-old Morgan Bulman comes from Vestal, a small town in upstate New York, where she found her passion for English. Although she started writing for fun, it wasn't always just for herself. She wrote to communicate with her great-grandmother, who was deaf.

 Bulman originally went to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she studied with the hopes of eventually working for the United Nations environmental program. But Bulman soon realized ESF was not for her, saying the professors and the extreme environment she was in turned her against the school, and even the subject itself. She transferred to Brockport, to study what she was truly good at: writing.

In the fall, Bulman plans to attend graduate school at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where she will study magazine, newspaper and online journalism with a concentration in science communications.

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