Chipo Dendere ’08 completed an internship at the Carter Center last summer. That is just one achievement of this exceptional student who serves as student body president

Thompson, Beth Rogers

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Linfield Magazine Volume 4 Number 2 Fall 2007 Article 6 Fall 2007 Student Dynamo Accepts Challenge Beth Rogers Thompson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine Recommended Citation Thompson, Beth Rogers (2007) "Student Dynamo Accepts Challenge," Linfield Magazine: Vol. 4 : No. 2 , Article 6. Available at: https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/linfield_magazine/vol4/iss2/6 This article is brought to you for free via open access, courtesy of DigitalCommons@Linfield. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@linfield.edu. 1 4   -   L I N F I E L D  M A G A Z I N E F A L L  2 0 0 7 -   1 5The Linfield College senior swallows a bite ofyogurt and flashes a smile at an acquaintance inO’Riley’s café. She admits she loves to sleep – 10 hoursa night – and watches junk TV.Typical college slacker? Here’s how Chipo Dendere’08 spends her waking 14 hours: as president of the stu-dent body (Associated Students of Linfield College);forensics team member; International Club president;founder of the campus Global Action Club; and Sundayschool teacher for McMinnville middle-schoolers. Oh, yes, and she works 20 hours a week inNicholson Library and the Observatory and does  col-laborative research with Linfield professors. All this,while maintaining a 3.6 GPA as a double-major inpolitical science and psychology. And she will graduatein May after only three and one-half years.Still, she insists, “I’m so lazy that I only do the thingsI really want to do at the time.” And those 18-creditsemesters? “I love to read, and I take courses I enjoy.When you enjoy it, it makes it easier to earn good grades.”Dendere grew up in Zimbabwe and attendedboarding school with the same classmates from age 10in Marondera, about an hour from her home in Harare. Several friends chose East Coast schools; Denderedeliberately went where she would know no one.Besides, she and her classmates, unfamiliar with U.S.geography, thought they’d get together on weekends.Despite bouts of homesickness and financial stress,Dendere blossomed. Political science professor DawnNowacki, whose research projects Dendere has workedon, witnessed a transformation from “this kind of tenta-tive, confused and really lonely person when she gothere. She has come so far in her intellectual develop-ment and had these incredible experiences.”One of those was Dendere’s internship last summerat the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. She researched fournations: Palestine, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Ghana,and the African Union, for the Center’s democracy pro-gram, which includes elections monitoring.“I met people who talked about things I love to talkabout – international relations and politics. We hadintense conversations,” Dendere says.And yes, she met former President Jimmy Carter.She visited his home in Plains, Ga., and also met wifeRosalynn, whom she describes as surprisingly funny. Dendere was one of two interns, out of 32 in theprogram, chosen to make a presentation before theCenter’s Board of Trustees. Later, during a photo ses-sion, Carter pointed her out, declaring: “She’s going tobe a president someday.”“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Nowacki says. “Iremember thinking, when Chipo first told me, in ourvery first conversation, that she wanted to be presidentof Zimbabwe, that this was unrealistic and somewhatarrogant, and that perhaps she was not serious. Sheassured me that she was quite serious, and over thecourse of the next year, as I got to know her andobserve her talents, I could see that this goal is actuallyquite realistic and attainable for her. I told her I want tobe part of her government.”For now, Dendere has a more modest goal as stu-dent leader: “I want to get students on campus involvedand really knowing what’s going on.” She also wants toincrease the visibility of student government.As for her future, Dendere is applying to graduateschools, hoping to pursue a Ph.D. in comparative politics.Roommate Sharon Tan ’07 admires Dendere’stenaciousness. “Chipo proves anything is possible if weare determined enough,” she says. Adds Nowacki, “Working with someone likeChipo is what makes it worthwhile to be a professor.Such students keep us going!”– Beth Rogers ThompsonChipo Dendere ‘08 completed an internship at the Carter Centerin Georgia last summer where she met former President JimmyCarter and his wife, Rosalynn.Student dynamoaccepts challenge You might say that Gabriel DelRayo ’08 is straddling two differentworlds.Whether he’s encouraging playerson the soccer field or dispensingadvice, counsel and sometimes punish-ment through the juvenile justice sys-tem, Del Rayo is serving local youth.Sandwiched between classes tocomplete his business major andSpanish minor at Linfield and hiswork as an assistant soccer coach atMcMinnville High School, Del Rayoalso finds time to work as a juvenileprobation assistant in the YamhillCounty Juvenile Department. He began as a translator assistingwith local Latino youths who foundthemselves on the wrong side of thelaw. As his responsibilities increased,the job evolved into an internship forcredit at Linfield. He spent last sum-mer working full time under thesupervision of Dana Carelle, proba-tion officer. Del Rayo’s duties include talking to parents, filingpaperwork, conducting probation visits, taking youngpeople to court and treatment programs, and adminis-tering drug tests. He’s even learned how to present incourt, which he calls “nerve-wracking.” In some cases,he has had to help cuff kids and take them back todetention. The crimes range from misdemeanors tofelonies and may include criminal mischief, harassmentand sex abuse; the majority are drug related. The work has been both rewarding and eye-opening.“The interesting thing is that there is nothing nor-mal about this work,” said Del Rayo, whose own strongfamily and parental support kept him out of trouble.“You can make a difference with some of these kids.You have to have patience. Sometimes it takes a coupleof years to see any progress. But it’s rewarding when youhear about a kid who is going to college, playing sportsor getting good grades.”He may be the perfect role model for young peo-ple who have few examples to emulate, said Carelle, hissupervisor at the juvenile department.  “Gabi is a young Hispanic male in college and that’sa good role model,” she said. “He has a genuine com-passion for people, and I think he wants the best forthese kids. He’s learned a little bit about life and thestruggles that some people face. He’s learned how todraw a line and hold kids accountable for their behav-ior and accountable for the court’s expectation.”Playing and coaching soccer – at McMinnville Highor in Joe Dancer Park – gives Del Rayo the opportunityto interact with young people in the community, some ofwhom are at risk to make poor choices. “I can be a role model for them and I want them tosee that it is possible to go to college,” he said. “I tell themif I can play soccer and I can go to college, so can they.”The toughest part of the job is not the young peo-ple, but their parents, Del Rayo said.“The parents are the most frustrating to work with,either because they are in trouble themselves or becausethey haven’t raised their kids right,” he said. “Some ofthese kids are really needy and all they want is someonenormal.”Although he’s not sure of his plans after he gradu-ates in May, Del Rayo is considering working in thejuvenile corrections field, at least for a while. But he alsowants to pursue the opportunities his business degreewill offer.“They have given me a great opportunity in thejuvenile department and I’m grateful for that,” DelRayo said. “Even if I don’t go into this field long term,I’m getting some good training at how to deal with dif-ficult people.”– Mardi MilehamGabriel Del Rayo ‘08 instructs soccer players in his job as an assistant soccer coach atMcMinnville High School. Del Rayo mentors local young people not only on the soccer fieldbut also in his work as a juvenile probation assistant in the Yamhill County Juvenile Department.Reaching out to youth

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