Heidy Abreu was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York City during her pre-adolescent years. She is a Psychology - Sociology double major as well as a Rockefeller Fellow and a Presidential Scholar. Having grown up in a poverty stricken area of Santo Domingo, her dream has always been to go back to the Dominican Republic and provide a positive contribution/ experience for the children that are in the same shoes she was a few years ago.
During one of her off-terms, the Tucker Foundation and the Robinson grant made her dream come true. The close to $10,000 donated, along with the help of three Dartmouth students, allowed the lives of many children to be touched. The summer school program that this Dartmouth team developed was centered on reviving the hopes of tired and over-worked children and emphasizing the importance of education as the key to many opportunities in life. Throughout the entire summer Heidy, along with the other Dartmouth students, dedicated their mornings and afternoons to teaching grammar, reading, writing, math, science and English as a foreign language to the 100+ students enrolled in the summer school program. She summarizes her experience in the following quotation: “It was the most challenging yet fulfilling and enchanting experience of my life. We gave those kids the best of us, and although it was not always good enough, they gave us more than we could ever ask for: their love and respect. I can only hope that they learned as much from the program as we learned from them.”
