Meet our 2018 Ambassadors: Tara on Costa Rica Pre-Med & Public Health!

Tara Amidon is from Lafayette, Colorado, and while she has lived in one place for her entire life, from the earliest age Tara developed an avid curiosity about different people and places. Her grandparents, who are all die-hard travelers, have taken Tara across the United States and as far as  Africa, where she was designated as the family photographer. It was on these trips that Tara saw how diverse and fascinating the world is.

Tara is currently a freshman at Peak to Peak, a K-12 charter school with a college prep focus, where she enjoys the rigor of honors biology, honors algebra, and AP human geography. Specifically, current events, environmental policies, and science really pique her interests. These interests came together in middle school when Tara was selected for a school sponsored sailing/science trip to Puget Sound. Outside of academics, Tara participates in multiple athletic programs; she has been playing soccer since age 3, as well as beginning basketball this past winter on the junior varsity team. Music also plays an important role in her life, as she has been playing clarinet for the school’s band since 5th grade and is now a part of the top ensemble.

Aside from schoolwork and athletics, Tara also takes part in student council and ethics bowl. Ethics bowl has been an important experience in her life, teaching her how to look at moral dilemmas from multiple viewpoints and discuss differing opinions. Both clubs have helped Tara to become more confident in sharing out her own ideas to groups of people. Mentoring is a vital aspect of Peak to Peak given that it is a K-12 school. As an eighth grader, Tara was accepted into the WEB program, where she and a partner worked with a group of ten 6th graders and helped them navigate the transition from elementary school to middle school.

During the summer of 2017, Tara volunteered at the local hospital in order to explore her interest in the medical field. While this provided an insight into what treatment is like in a highly developed country, Tara is very drawn to the differences between her experiences in the U.S. and those in Nicaragua. As a Global Ambassador, Tara plans on speaking about her experiences on the Nicaragua trip as part of school programs for 8th and 10th graders that focus on career paths and service opportunities. Through these and other outlets, she hopes to encourage other students to pursue their passions through a service learning adventure.