About

Hey Everyone, thanks for visiting my blog. Let me fill you in on who I am and why I created this blog. First off, my name is Paige, I’m eighteen years old and just graduated from Fredericksburg Academy. I will be attending the University of Virginia in the fall in hopes of continuing my studies of our developing world.

This blog will serve as a way to keep in touch with my 18 for 18 donors, and allow anyone who is interested in learning about our developing world, or my interactions with our developing world to do so. If you haven’t heard about my senior exhibit, or want to know more about why I started this blog please keep reading below.

In order to graduate from FA each student must complete a senior exhibit, an eighteen month project to explore anything desired. When I started my project as Junior I had no idea where I wanted to go with it, and eventually it evolved into a project that changed my life. I read Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson, now don’t judge. I know the books are steeped in controversy currently, but Mortenson inspired me to make a diference in kids lives by providing them with education. I ended up volunteering with the non-profit organization E3 Kids International which is partnered with the Royal Kids School in Mombasa, Kenya to learn about how international aid agencies worked. I was given the opportunity to visit the school in Kenya in January as part of my project, and absolutely fell in love. I worked with the sixth grade class to compile projects to share with a classroom in America. I was overwhelmed by the needs of these kids, and how easily they could be met by people in the US. When I came home I launched the 18 for 18 campaign to try and sponsor 18 of the orphaned or severely impoverished boarders at the school. To sponsor a child for an entire year is $800, meaning my goal was $14,400. I can proudly say today that I have surpassed my goal of sponsoring these kids, and have also been able to provide them with books to start filling the school library.

Making a difference in these kids lives has changed my life. Before my project I never knew where I wanted to go, or what I want to be, but I’m realizing that this is what I want to dedicate my future to. When I started my project I had no idea what it would develop into, and just let the project steer me. Keeping an open mind, and always dreaming big has allowed me to turn my project into something bigger than I ever could have dreamed of. Since this is something I’m so passionate about, and have shared with so many people I thought this blog would be a great way to continue putting my ideas out there for other people to read. I hope that by reading my experiences and thoughts on the world others will be inspired to do something to make a difference somewhere. So please enjoy my blog, keep an open mind and remember to always dream big!