‘Bridesmaids’ plenty of laughs and a good story, too

Published 3:03 pm Friday, May 20, 2011

Georgia Rotary Student Program (G.R.S.P.) student Valerie Restrepo recently visited the Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties to update them on her year as a freshman at Augusta State University. Restrepo who is from Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia, South America has been sponsored by the Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties, the Rotary Club of Thomson, and the Rotary Club of Washington.

Restrepo discussed her experiences as a student residing in Augusta for the past several months, talked about her studies in French, Social Work, Communications and Criminal Justice at ASU, as well as her weekend excursions all over the U.S. throughout her year as a G.R.S.P. She showed the club pictures of many of her experiences and entertained them with stories about going to her first American football game in Athens, GA to watch the bulldogs, attending Oktoberfest in Helen, teaching other G.R.S.P students how to salsa dance at the 2010 GRSP Conclave in Savannah,and going to Atlanta to see the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola. She also helped to pack over 80,000 meals to go to Haiti, learned to fly an airplane (even though she doesn’t drive a car), visited the state prison and an alligator farm in Pelham and got to go to a day at the Masters in Augusta. Restrepo was also afforded the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. and was able to go home to visit her family during her winter break in December.

She will return home to Colombia on May 18 where she will continue her college career studying international business and plans to one day work with a large business and hopefully open her own restaurant.

Since 1946, Rotarians in Georgia, USA, have promoted world peace through understanding by offering scholarships to international students for one year of study in Georgia colleges and universities. Georgia Rotary Clubs sponsor students recommended by a Rotary Club in their home country. The students become adopted members of a Georgia “host family,” but live on-campus at the school they attend. This is a scholarship program, not an exchange. Each year, about 80 students from all over the world make friends in the United States and other nations and learn about differing cultures and life styles. Georgia Rotarians believe “Peace is Possible” and through GRSP promote international goodwill through the bonds of friendship and understanding.

For more information on The Rotary Club of Greene and Putnam Counties, please visit www.GreenePutnamRotary.org.