Megan Metz
3/9/2010 4:02:36 PM
Former William Smith College lacrosse player Jesse McKenna ’08, originally of Wenham, Mass., was recently named a 2010 recipient of the Sara’s Wish Foundation scholarship, given in the name of Sara Schewe to support safe and rewarding adventures for students when studying abroad. The scholarship will help McKenna fund her return trip to Tanzania, a country she traveled to following her graduation from William Smith.
During her first trip to East Africa, McKenna visited both Tanzania and Kenya, and lived in an orphanage. She fell in love with the people and the region, and realized she wanted to pursue a master’s degree in public health, instead of her original plan, nursing. She wants to “improve the health and lives of communities, not simply individuals.”
Currently, McKenna is in her second semester at Boston University’s School of Public Health, studying international health. She volunteers for the Clinton Health Access Initiative on the Clinical Support Team, and in September, she will intern with the Foundation for African Medicine and Education in Karatu, Tanzania. For the internship, McKenna is designing a health education curriculum that she will implement in the Foundation for African Medicine’s mobile health clinics. She’ll be in Tanzania for four months.
While at William Smith, McKenna studied abroad in Ireland, and taught English to primary school students in Thailand. She was a four-year member of the lacrosse team, leading the Herons to a 40-24 (.625) record. McKenna closed out her career with 26 goals, 43 assists, and 69 points, after playing in 49 games. She was twice named to the Liberty League All-Academic Team.