Hola, me llamo Helen Kalleb, y yo estoy loca. Hello. My name is Helen Kalleb, and I am crazy, or at least, that is what six-year-old Bianca consistently yammered on about as I spent June of 2019 with her, her family, and her community in San Isidro General, Costa Rica. Ever since middle school, I have babysat, tutored, and watched kids    loving the sense of adventure and love that comes with the simplest acts of kindness that children display. As I attended this amazing mission trip to Costa Rica, it was no surprise that I congregated to watching and playing with the children of the town. My time with sweet Bianca, her laughing at my mediocre Spanish skills, the piggyback rides to the waterfall nearby, and all of the laughs and smiles shared, made me realize that not only do I love caring for and spending time with people, but that I also wanted my future profession to consist of aiding others. Ever since I was young, my parents instilled within my siblings and I religion as a strong backbone in our lives, and the church community I am a part of has enabled me to volunteer and serve others. I realized that whichever career path I chose, I wanted it to be one where I cared for others    something I had been doing within my church and school community since a young age. I came to this realization after all the time I spent teaching ESL classes to those within my church’s refugee outreach program, the time I spent babysitting the kids of the refugees as they attended these courses, the Vacation Bible School and other volunteer opportunities I have participated in, leading retreats within my church, babysitting and nannying during the summers, and the natural connection I made with Bianca and the kids of her town. I wanted to channel my desire to help and be there for others into whatever my future career would be.

Nurses provide a personal connection and comfort for patients and their families. I plan on majoring in nursing so that I may be able to relate to, console, and overall care for others. In addition, I plan to pursue a Spanish Certificate for Medical Professionals as I have fallen in love with the Spanish language, and I desire to be able to communicate and connect with any patient that comes my way.

Major
Nursing

Other Academic Interests
Spanish Certificate for Medical Professionals; Social Inequality, Health, and Policy Certificate

Extracurricular Activities
University of Texas Nursing Students' Association, Administrative Director; XP3 Fellow

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
Ever since I was a child, my parents have taught me how important it is that I have a community that provides me with a sense of belonging and allows me to trust those around me and find comfort in them. Growing up, I had my church and school communities that served as this type of environment for me, but as I started looking into which colleges I wanted to attend, it became apparent that I would have to find my own community within the thousands of like-minded college students I would be surrounded by. Knowing that I desired to attend UT, I realized that my high school of about 1,100 students did not compare to the population of nearly 9,000 incoming college freshmen planning on attending UT Austin. This being said, I knew how imperative it was to find a community so that I would not feel overwhelmed in such a large environment. Attending the Forty Acres Scholars Program Finalist Weekend, I immediately fell in love with the atmosphere and connections the current scholars seemed to have with one another. The light-hearted banter and laughs reminded me of that community that my parents had advised that I always had no matter what. Having the opportunity to see how friendly scholars were among themselves, scholarship staff, and donors, I knew immediately that I did not only want to become a part of this community, I knew that I wanted to be a member of the family that the Forty Acres Scholars Program serves to be.