Past WorldLink Interns
2009-2010

Spring 2010 WorldLink Interns

Nina Church
La Jolla Country Day School

Nina Church, a sophomore at La Jolla Country Day School, is honored and excited to be working as a WorldLink intern as she strongly believes in the Joan B. Kroc Institute's peacebuilding efforts. Nina is an active member of her school and local community, serving as vice president and class president of ASB student council throughout high school, founding and running the school's Free the Children Club, working as a committee member of Project Concern International's Walk for Water youth board for two years, and being a participant in various projects with San Diego's St. Vincent de Paul Village homeless shelter.

A proud tutor of the Sudanese Refugee Network, Nina enjoys getting to know people of other cultures and backgrounds. She feels incredibly fortunate to have her passion for cultural immersion and exploration met through her various service trips to countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Israel, Morocco, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. These experiences have sparked a deep interest to learn more about the poverty cycle and global development. As a result, Nina and her family have founded Nika Water, a unique, eco-friendly business that donates 100 percent of its profits to bring clean water and education to thousands of people throughout the developing world.

In addition, Nina enjoys participating in Model United Nations conferences, is a competitive horseback rider and avid runner and, most of all, enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

 

Torrey Czech
La Jolla High School

Torrey is a junior at La Jolla High and whose passion for global issues, politics and community involvement began during her freshman World History class.  Not coincidentally, she attended the 11th Annual WorldLink Youth Town Meeting that year, and was inspired to learn more about global conflicts and humanitarian crises.  Torrey established the Friends of the Poor Club at her school, which has enabled her to learn more about homelessness in San Diego.  Through her club, she organizes events for students to volunteer to feed the homeless and raises money for the Friends of the Poor Charity, which provides funds, goods, medicine and food for its current project at Casa de los Pobres in Tijuana.  Torrey enjoys being involved in her school’s Speech and Debate team, Link Crew, California Scholarship Federation, service clubs, and has played on the school’s varsity tennis, badminton and fencing teams.  Outside of school, Torrey is a writer for La Jolla Art and Culture, where she has been able to share insights of cultural events within her community through her interest in journalism.

Along with writing, Torrey loves to travel; she has gone to France and Italy and has been to Japan many times. 

 

Fall 2009 WorldLink Interns

Sam Hargrove
High Tech High International

Sam Hargrove is a junior at High Tech High International, where he has helped start a Roots & Shoots club, which is a youth program of the Jane Goodall Institute, and is involved in Model United Nations.  In Roots & Shoots, he works with others to create positive change; the current projects focus mainly on San Diego, such as promoting composting and trying to save El Capitan Mountain.  He believes that youth, who have incredible energy and drive to repair the world they will inherit, are critical in working toward solutions to global problems.  He is always excited to spread the message of activism to his peers.  

Outside of school, Sam enjoys writing, reading, bodysurfing, cycling, hiking, playing guitar and traveling.  He recently spent a semester in Italy, which was an incredible challenge in a completely new environment. In the past he has also traveled to Britain, Ireland, Malta and several areas of central Europe. After high school he hopes to attend a prestigious university and study literature, English or international relations.

 

Amruta Trivedi
Canyon Crest Academy

Amruta is a senior at Canyon Crest Academy. She hails from a family with a close association to Mahatma Gandhi and his ideology. Her travels to over 15 countries have opened her eyes to the common human bond which exists despite location, language, culture and appearance.

Amruta’s association with the IPJ began when she heard President Carter speak during the IPJ dedication ceremony in 2001. She feels inspired by the groundbreaking work of past peacemakers and lessons shared by the energetic passion of today's peacemakers and change-makers. She feels honored and privileged to be a year-long WorldLink intern and editor-in-chief of the Youth Town Meeting Newspaper.

In high school, Amruta serves as the editor-in-chief of both the online and print versions of the school’s newsmagazine, co-founder of the Model United Nations club, and president of a community service club. She is also an Odissi Indian Classical dancer and, along with her twin sister Aditi, has given presentations in schools, libraries, senior centers and conferences around San Diego in an effort to spread multicultural awareness in her community.

Outside of school, Amruta enjoys traveling, reading, writing, playing piano and spending time with her dog, family and friends.

Update: Amruta plans to major in engineering with a minor in global poverty and practice at UC Berkeley, beginning in fall 2010.

 

Summer 2009 WorldLink Interns

Clint Akarmann
Cathedral Catholic High School

Clint will be a senior at Cathedral Catholic High School in the fall. He is involved in many clubs and organizations, serving as the Sports Editor of El Cid, the school newspaper, and as the captain of his school’s Academic League team. He also is a member of the National Honor Society, California Scholastic Federation and the Varsity Badminton team. Clint enjoys volunteering at the Carmel Valley Public Library during the summer and traveling to new and interesting places. This past year, Clint served as the historian of the WorldLink Club at his school and as a journalist for the 2009 WorldLink Youth Town Meeting.

He looks forward to attending a college with a strong liberal arts program and is interested in incorporating global affairs into his career plans.

Update: Clint will be attending Stanford University beginning in fall 2010.

 

Alan Del Callejo
CETYS Universidad, Tijuana

Alan will be a senior in the fall at CETYS Universidad in the International Baccalaureate program. Though born in San Diego, he has always attended school in Tijuana, Mexico. Alan is a dedicated leader, volunteering for various organizations in order to help improve his community. He is an active member of Foundation Esperanza, whose purpose is to help less fortunate families by building homes. He also volunteers as a tutor for orphan children in SOS Children’s Villages and as a museum guide for El Trompo. Alan spends much of his time promoting water conservation, as he considers environmental activism to be an important link to development and improved quality of life.

Alan is interested in chemistry, biology and the humanities. He intends to pursue a career in the field of medicine to continue being an active member in his community through healthcare. In his spare time, Alan likes going to the gym, hanging out with friends, listening to music and reading a good book.

Update: Alan will continue his studies in the medical field and plans to join medical school in the fall 2010.

 

Kaylen Dornan
High Tech High International

Kaylen Dornan will be a junior in the 2009-2010 school year. She is very interested in the WorldLink Program because of the amazing things she had heard about it from the past interns that attend her school. Kaylen also actively participates in Model United Nations and will serve as a head chair at the High Tech High conference in December 2009. Although Kaylen enjoys all subjects in school, her favorites are chemistry, humanities and, above all, art.

When not in school Kaylen has a lot of interests, including soccer, traveling and reading. She is very grateful to have the opportunity to travel often with her school and her family. She has been to 42 states, as well as Canada, Japan, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Tanzania and, most recently, Egypt.

After graduating from high school, Kaylen would like to attend NYU and pursue a career that allows her to travel as much as humanly possible.

 

Taylor LeGrand
University City High School

Taylor is involved in a lot of activities during and after school. She loves volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club and playing with the little kids that attend the club. Taylor first heard of the WorldLink Program through one of her advisors. Since then, she has become increasingly more interested in looking at the world through different angles and learning about the daily struggles suffered by the world’s poor. Once Taylor completes her internship, she plans on sharing the things she has learned with friends and family.

During her free time, Taylor enjoys playing softball, dancing, designing images and singing. Taylor also loves debates and speaking in front of large groups.

 

Daniel Melena
Steele Canyon High School

Daniel Melena will start his junior year at Steele Canyon High School. He has been interested in international relations for several years and closely follows the news. One of his favorite pastimes is to discuss current events with his peers, as well as learning about other cultures. 

Outside of school, Daniel participates in the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), which involves caring for endangered species, preserving local nature and learning about the environment and how to care for it.

Daniel is a dedicated member on his school’s track and field team. He likes to spend time with friends and visit his extensive family located as far as southern Mexico.  He plans to attend a four-year university and obtain a career that serves others.

 

Kelsey Miller
La Jolla Country Day

Kelsey will commence her junior year at La Jolla Country Day School (LJCD) this fall. She is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to be an intern for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice as she feels that the Institute and this year’s theme of development coincide with her passion for international relations. Kelsey is fortunate to be an ardent traveler and has experienced the cultures of over 15 different countries via home exchange. She believes that her global experiences have greatly contributed to her insatiable interest in foreign affairs.

Kelsey is a proud and active member of the LJCD community. She served as class president and ASB member for her sophomore class, a position that she used as a platform to organize and fundraise the sponsorship of young girls’ education at the school of St. Jude’s in Tanzania. She is the founder of the Kiva committee at her school, a committee that uses the website Kiva.org to make micro-loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. She is ecstatic to have been selected to be the editor-in-chief of the Torrey Quarterly and LJCD’S Journal of Political Science and Economic Analysis. Kelsey will also continue to serve as president of the French Club and the Student Tutoring Program at her school. In addition, she enjoys playing on the Varsity Girl’s Tennis team, singing with the Madrigal Ensemble, participating in Model United Nations conferences and being a member of the Academic League team.

Additionally, Kelsey enjoys reading, swimming, spending time with family and friends, traveling and babysitting.