By Sarah Goodykoontz

You thought your summer was busy? Senior Jacqueline Kirk had arguably one of the most eventful and interesting summers of anyone at Tempe Prep. Between three summer programs, all of them at least a week long, Jacqueline kept herself quite busy.

The first program Jacqueline participated in was Arizona Girls State. This program was a week long, and was located at the University of Arizona. At Arizona Girls State, 200 girls from all over Arizona are organized into “cities” and “counties,” each city being one floor in one of the University of Arizona dorms. A county is made up of a group of three cities, and the entire “state” is made up of four of these counties.

Jacqueline had a great time living in her city, Manzanita, as they “got to do mock government, which increased my interest in government and politics. I made the best friends ever. I loved it and everyone should do it!” Jacqueline’s city ended up winning capital city, an honor that will be recognized during Arizona Girls State 2019!

Jacqueline also took part in the Harvard Pre-College Program, a two-week long mini-experience at Harvard University. Jacqueline got to live in the dorms, and she took three hours of one class every day. Jacqueline took a class on the history of racial politics in America. She says that there are “lots of classes you can choose from and take. Mine had five kids in it, but some had around 20.”

Jacqueline also enjoyed plenty of freedom after classes were over. “You can do whatever you want for the rest of the day as long as you go to class and you’re back at curfew. There was lots of homework every night but it was really interesting readings,” she says. The group even got Harvard IDs that got them into the legendary Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, the centerpiece of the campus.

Global Works Spain is the last program in which Jacqueline participated. She spent two weeks in Spain, where her group was only allowed to speak Spanish. The program packs in community service, cultural exchange, language immersion, and adventure. Jacqueline recounts, “It helped my Spanish so much! We went to Málaga, Sevilla, and Granada.”

Jacqueline got to volunteer in a village called La Fundación Escuela de Solidaridad, a village for people with nowhere else to go. Jacqueline remembers how humbling it was because “everyone loved each other so much. I got to work with really great people. It was so emotional hearing everyone’s stories, and I grew so close with the people on the trip and in the village.”

All in all, Jacqueline had a busy, but rewarding, summer. Returning to school probably felt like a vacation!