In 2011, Jennifer Young came to University of North Georgia (UNG) with the intention of earning a degree that would allow her to teach high school history. As a 40-year-old non-traditional student, she faced some unique hurdles — including difficulties with the SAT because of the sizeable gap between her high school and collegiate experiences.
After exploring alternate exams to continue in UNG's education program, Young faced some downtime before her next possible application cycle, and began exploring options for study abroad. It was at this moment she thought about service learning — the catalyst was a young student at Gainesville High School.
"I started mentoring this student during my Education Foundations 2120 class at UNG; she was a sophomore in high school failing all of her classes," Young said. "I felt that only one semester of mentoring was doing a disservice to this child, so I stayed to mentor her after my required time was met. In May 2017, my mentee graduated. On time. With her class. And it made me realize I want to have more of this same kind of impact."
Young wanted to take undergraduate students to other states or abroad and help them apply the skills they are learning in the classroom while giving the added benefit of volunteers to communities in need. She also realized that, in the process, she could possibly scholarship low-income, exceptional high school students to do these same service-learning trips at no cost to them.
"If we give them the opportunity to travel the world and see and feel the benefits of being a part of the bigger picture, then they are more likely to come home and do it in their own community," Young said.
Thus, her non-profit Ardenti was born.
In September 2016, Ardenti received 501(C)3 status. Young graduated from UNG in May 2017. And in summer 2017, six UNG students accompanied her during the nonprofit's inaugural service learning trip, to Belize City, Belize.
"In Belize, we hosted a summer camp for impoverished children to promote literacy and tackle hard social issues such as drug addiction, sex education and staying in school," Young said. "Through these experiences, we are helping undergrads immerse themselves in different cultures, while letting them use the skill sets they are learning in the classroom while we assist communities in need. Getting our youth involved helps them come back and give back to their own communities; it's a full circle approach to being one complete community."
