Through Santa Clara’s community-based learning programs, Vanessa DiCarlo has gained an invaluable education. The Arrupe Center intern, a religious studies major, has worked as an elementary school volunteer, an academic counselor at a summer enrichment program for children, an early childhood education assistant, and an afterschool tutor in San Jose.

“Through these experiences I have felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude from and for the community,” she says. “I think it is absolutely necessary for a well-rounded education that students get outside of the classroom.”

Vanessa says the experiences she has gained in the community have been the most valuable part of her Santa Clara education. They have given her the determination to work toward “lasting change” after graduation.

“It is through conversations with people that I meet in the community that I gain the most insight,” she says. “Santa Clara makes these types of experiences extremely accessible and offers students countless opportunities to work in local neighborhoods.”