Bethanny Sudibyo, assistant teaching professor of Spanish in �鶹��Ƶ’s Department of World Languages and Cultures, is building a bridge between comprehension and community.

Sudibyo’s community engagement (CE) course, Spanish for Healthcare, lets students learn and use Spanish in a practical setting through a partnership with Open Door Clinic in Burlington, North Carolina.

“It was always one of my goals to have a community engagement component,” said Sudibyo. “I didn’t want students to simply learn in the classroom because I think if we are thinking about language as a way to connect with people and to help the community, we should also put that into practice.”

The purpose of the course is to prepare students to interact with patients who may not be comfortable communicating in English in a healthcare setting. After a few weeks of preparation, students are required to volunteer for two sessions, doing tasks such as shadowing a Spanish translator, translating promotional materials into Spanish and supporting patients who may be more comfortable speaking Spanish while acting as an interpreter between the patient and healthcare professional.

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” said Hannah Nunez ’28, a public health major, who took Spanish for Healthcare in the fall of 2025. “But I really liked connecting with patients and having one-on-one conversations with them. You could tell that they were very appreciative.
It is very nerve-wracking. But honestly, they don’t care if you mess up.
It’s more so that you’re trying.”

The course was pitched to make language learning a more hands-on skill. �鶹��Ƶ as an institution is passionate about professional experience, especially healthcare-focused programming such as nursing or physician assistant. By combining this with language learning, Sudibyo turns Spanish into a skill that can be utilized directly, strengthening practical skills and community building before students even enter the professional world. And the Open Door Clinic was open to facilitating that learning.

At first, Sudibyo was hesitant to establish a partnership due to possible ethical concerns within the medical field. However, one of her students in the first cohort of the class was a student coordinator for Open Door Clinic and was able to connect Sudibyo with the clinic, which assured her that the clinic itself was a learning space where students could build real-life experience and help patients in any capacity.

“I think the beautiful thing about the clinic is that it’s very community-centered. Everyone is volunteering,” said Sudibyo. “If you’re working in the healthcare professions, you’re serving a community, and you need to know who the community members are.”

Currently, the class is only offered at one intermediate level of Spanish in the fall semesters. In the future, Sudibyo hopes that she can get a second level to keep volunteers connected with the Open Door Clinic during the spring semester, both further building the students’ language skills and growing their connection to �鶹��Ƶ’s surrounding community.

“A university as an institution can sometimes feel very disconnected with the community that it is in,” said Sudibyo. “I think it is important for students to know the stories of the people who are living around campus. It’s an important thing to bridge that gap between higher education and the community.”

For Spanish students interested in connecting their language learning with service in the local Alamance area but may be intimidated by using the language in hands-on situations, this class offers a supportive and connected environment and strongly emphasizes its two meaningful purposes: serving the surrounding community and learning to utilize the Spanish language.

“If you struggle with speaking up and speaking Spanish to other people, it can be difficult, but at the same time, it’s difficult for a reason. Learning a language is always difficult,” said Nunez. “It’s okay to be nervous, but you’re gonna do a lot better than you think. There’s people there supporting you.”

“The program’s nice for STEM students who typically have very busy schedules but are looking for ways to volunteer” said Kyle Anderson, associate director of the Kernodle Center for Civic life and supervisor of Imagine Science. “There could be some sense of connection between what those students are doing in the classroom here, or interests they might have, or maybe they really liked science class when they were younger. So it’s a way to apply things they’re interested in and then benefit kids that we work with.”

Imagine Science runs workshops twice a month on Thursdays, with spots for five volunteers, along with the two student coordinators, Julia Polen ’28 and Peyton Kalan ’27. Both coordinators are in STEM majors, Polen being a nursing student and Kalan studying biochemistry on the pre-med track and share a deep passion for watching kids get excited about learning science.

“It all just feels very meaningful. Some volunteer experiences, you don’t really know what the bigger picture is,” said Kalan. “But for Imagine Science, we really try to tell our volunteers why we’re doing this. These kids might not have a lot of experiences like this. Having a science presence is so important not just for �鶹��Ƶ, but for little kids as well, because not a lot of kids who come from lower income families think of science as an option for them.”

Community engagement within Alamance County is an essential part of �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers!, and by working with the students at Red Shield Youth Center, �鶹��Ƶ students are able to see just how great an impact their enthusiasm for STEM can have. As a newer program, Imagine Science has a lot of potential for growth, expanding to more community partners or holding more frequent workshops in the future. Already, however, the impact it has on local K-12 students in the community is great.

“The kids are very passionate,” said Polen. “All of them are really interactive and they’re all really friendly. So I think it’s honestly a really great thing to do. The kids all really enjoy doing these experiments and they enjoy everything �鶹��Ƶ.”

The student coordinators of the program, Nastassia Harrison ’28 and Ella Russo ’28, were excited to get involved.

“Starting something that we then get to build on is really special,” said Russo. “I’m looking forward to seeing how this program flourishes as a whole. Not just my time here, but after my time, and seeing how it will grow or how it will change to adapt however it needs to.”

Before COVID, �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! had a similar program, but it was dissolved during the pandemic. Andrew Moffa, assistant director of �鶹��Ƶ’s Kernodle Center for Civic Life, decided it was a good time to revisit the program.

“We found that there are students who really enjoy doing that type of work,” said Moffa. “We’ll see how this semester goes. I would love for it to expand to more visits, and also just incorporate more students.”

�鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! has another program working with Twin Lakes called Music for Dementia, facilitating individualized and personal music activities for residents to help to cope with dementia. The close and continuous partnership with Twin Lakes through �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! emphasizes the value of community bonds and the genuine relationships that come from service towards one’s community.

“The seniors just get so excited to interact with �鶹��Ƶ in any way,” said Moffa about Linking Generations. “A new perspective, the ability to talk to someone who has different life experiences, maybe holds different identities from a different generation. That’s always valuable.”

While Linking Generations is still in its first semester with a limited number of students meeting with their residents monthly, there is hope for the program to expand in future years, strengthening bonds with more student participants and conversations to connect people from all walks of life.

“This program bridges that generational gap, and you can understand each other, which I think we need more of in the world,” Harrison said.

Every first Saturday in September, �鶹��Ƶ’s Campus Kitchen partners with Rise Against Hunger, packaging shelf-stable food for ten countries worldwide. Since 2008, �鶹��Ƶ has partnered with Rise Against Hunger to build over 552,000 meals, with 3,551 total volunteers engaged in 22 packaging events.
This year’s Rise Against Hunger event was even more special than usual, as the organization gifted �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! their own gong for packaging 0.5 million meals total. As a staple of the event, the gong is rung for every 1,000 meals packaged and marks a major achievement for �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! to receive a personal gong as an indicator of the work that they have done through Rise Against Hunger over the years.

“We specifically partner with Rise Against Hunger because their organization as a whole is aiming to address food insecurity and hunger internationally, which I feel like really boosts our program because with Campus Kitchen…we’re very focused on the local area. And with Rise Against Hunger, it connects us internationally,” said Anna Grace Gilbert ‘27, director of Campus Kitchen.

Campus Kitchen is the only �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! program focusing on food security and justice in the local �鶹��Ƶ, Burlington and Alamance County communities. Gilbert has been a part of Campus Kitchen and �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! since her sophomore year, and has built a strong sense of love for the surrounding community through service.

“�鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! is just an incredible place to work,” said Gilbert. “And I think it’s really a different and unique college experience to be so engaged with the local community.”

The partnership between �鶹��Ƶ Volunteers! and Rise Against Hunger exemplifies how a shared passion and service to others can bring people together. Other members of the �鶹��Ƶ community volunteered at the event, creating connection and accomplishment as they packaged meals for people in the Philippines.

“I’m part of the National Council of Negro Women, so a couple of us on the executive board did [Rise Against Hunger] this year,” said Sydney Griffin ‘29, a volunteer at the event, “I just thought it was really cool how people in �鶹��Ƶ can pack all these bags that are sent around the world to help a bunch of people.”

The impact of this event — with over 552,000 total meals achieved by �鶹��Ƶ — demonstrates the community’s continuous love of service and commitment to helping others.

“A lot of students might not know what it’s like to not have all of their necessities, so I think it’s good that we can give our time and give back to communities that don’t have the same privilege that we do,” said Griffin. “It’s amazing that we can learn from that experience and help others, and make an impact around the world.”