Michigan Education Magazine |
Marsal Student Interns in Indian Village with Support from Educational Scholarship Program
Jessica Neff’s teaching career kicks off in a small village in India
This article is part of a series, Making Connections Far and Away, Bringing Lessons Home
University of Michigan junior Jessica Neff always dreamed of teaching—but never imagined her career would kick off in a small village in India. Neff, a junior in the Marsal Family School of Education, traveled to India in the summer of 2024 as an education intern for the Agency for Non-Konventional Urban and Rural Initiatives (ANKURI), supporting elementary-age students in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains.
ANKURI is a nonprofit that assists women with education, employment, and skills training in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. The organization also runs an English teaching assistantship program with interns from the U.S. and India to help children in local schools supplement government-supported education, and an afterschool tutoring program to develop their English and literacy skills.
A Chelsea, Michigan native, Neff is studying to be an elementary school teacher. She says she has always loved working with children as a babysitter and camp counselor. She currently teaches in the early childhood program at the YMCA in Ann Arbor.
At U-M, Neff wanted to study abroad but couldn't see how it would fit into her two-year intensive Marsal program—until she saw a flyer for a six-week summer internship with ANKURI in India.
"What other time would I have the opportunity to go abroad and do something I am passionate about?" recalls Neff, who applied hours after seeing the post.
Her experience included a significant bonus: It was funded by the Kelley Rea and Mary Jean Jecklin Scholarship. Rea is an LSA and Michigan Law graduate, and Jecklin graduated from Clarke College (now Clarke University) in Dubuque, Iowa. The couple are world travelers—they were named National Geographic's 2012 Travelers of the Year.
While traveling in India, they met with a guide named Rachna Dushyant Singh, who founded ANKURI to develop sustainable livelihoods for women in the Dehradun region. Singh needed assistance bringing female teachers to support local children.
Rea and Jecklin were so impressed with Singh's work that they offered scholarships for American interns from Michigan and Clarke. The scholarships cover airfare, visas, room and board, and weekend excursions Singh leads to sites, including the Taj Mahal.
They estimate between 15 and 20 students have received scholarships over the last ten years.
"The world is a great big place, and my goal is to help these young women expand their understanding, appreciation, and knowledge of other places," Jecklin says.
Rea added that American teaching interns like Neff push themselves to work in distant, unfamiliar environments. "These are university students who are smart, able, and challenged," he noted.
When Neff traveled to India, it was her first major trip abroad and her first solo flight. Upon arrival, she says she was both electrified and overwhelmed. The Indian students were curious and eager, but most spoke little—if any—English. The rural setting presented unique challenges, too. In the U.S., Neff is accustomed to accessing technology like smart boards and iPads and using books and games with children; in Dehradun, she had to get creative.
"I used songs to help with memorization, we went outside to talk about colors, and we created card games on paper," she says. "I had to practice working with limited resources."
Neff created daily lesson plans for her students, dividing them by skill level, but learned she often had to pivot. Her first-grade class shared a room with second and third grade, so Neff sometimes moved her students to the hall or outside for a quieter environment. Even her class roster was fluid: some days, 10 students attended, but other days, she only had two students.
"I learned things will not always go as planned, and that's okay. I needed to have plans to fall back on," she says, adding that this skill will be helpful with future classrooms.
The internship also offered Neff a cultural experience she craved. Along with two other interns from Clarke University, Neff lived with Singh and her family and ate three meals daily with them. She said they all became very close. On weekends, Singh arranged sightseeing excursions.
"I experienced a different way of life. They were so welcoming," Neff says.
Singh, in particular, left a lasting impression.
"As a young woman, seeing this mentor and the wonderful things she's done for her community was amazing. She has so much knowledge. She made the experience," Neff says.
Neff keeps in regular contact with Singh and the Clarke University interns. Her experience is precisely the enriching personal and professional immersion Rea and Jecklin hoped to foster with their scholarship.
"In addition to hoping the internships in India have a lifelong influence on the individual students, I hope each one will transmit their interest in India and other cultures and countries to the students they work with throughout their teaching career," Jecklin says.