Over the course of the semester, I followed Ms. Rivera, capturing aspects of her job and learning about her passion for education. Ms. Rivera moved to the United States from Honduras in January of 2021 to pursue her dreams of guiding young minds. She started at Lakewood, teaching in both Dual Language first grade classrooms as well as regular first grade classrooms. This past year, Ms. Rivera's colleague and close friend, Mrs. Fuentes, encouraged her to step into the role of an intervention/instructional coach for kindergarten and first grade. She now provides supplemental support to teachers and students, coming up with ways to improve learning. She has enjoyed it so far, saying, "I've been doing this for 3 months now, and every single day, I can say I have learned something new. I never saw myself as a leader, and now here I am, trying to help teachers with whatever they need. It is definitely making me a better person. You get to see a different world, different perspective."

Overall, this experience has really changed my view of service as a Duke student. My mindset went from one of "helping," implying a power imbalance, to one of "serving," emphasizing equality and connection. Coming from a lower-income town and school district myself, I empathize with the students, staff, and administrators at Lakewood, because I have experienced some of the same struggles in education first-hand. I am eternally grateful for Ms. Rivera, for allowing me to document her work and share her story.