Mikaila has been among our all-star dedicated volunteers this summer. She volunteered with iACT three years ago while she was still in high school and helped tutor a refugee student. Now, after finishing her first year at the University of Texas, where she is in the Plan II Honors program, she has come back to assist in the iLearn program.  Mikaila is studying non-profit management and Chinese, and is a Rapoport Scholar.

Each day she works directly with the students in the summer program, leading them inacademic worksheets and activities. This opportunity, she says, has helped her realize her passion for teaching. She dreams of working in the non-profit sector, but has realized that she wants a career that involves teaching in some capacity.

Mikaila has loved wataching the progress the students are making and their increased comfort with the work material. One particular student was really struggling at first, and would often become distracted when he couldn’t understand the work. However, the day we spoke with Mikaila, she was overjoyed that that particular student had been so engrossed in his work that day that he didn’t want to stop practicing sentences even to play a game!