2010 - 2011
 Adwoa Asare - I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. My family is awesome and I love them! I am the youngest of three children. My brother and his wife live and work in Washington DC and my sister lives and works in New York City. My parents still live in Durham in the house that I grew up in. I love to travel; whether it's on a plane around the globe, in the car to the beach, or on the bus to the city. I also like to laugh and watch movies with good company.
My family is from Ghana (West Africa) and I have been blessed to go back and visit a few times including my most recent trip in 2008. It can be challenging to connect to a place you've never lived in, but the 4 months that I spent studying abroad in Ghana were truly life changing.
In 2009 I graduated from Wake Forest University where I majored in Psychology and minored in English. It was during my undergraduate experience that I began to understand the power of service to others. I have discovered that I am passionate about empowering people by giving them the tools that they need to help themselves, and I am looking forward to the many opportunities that I will have to do this in my future.
I am grateful to God for leading me to the Johnson Intern Program. I believe that this year will be transformative, to say the least. I have a chance to embark on a journey with 7 others that thousands of people love to read about and hear about but are never willing to travel themselves. I hope to learn from those around me, strengthen my faith, and re-learn to listen to that still small voice that speaks to all of us.
 Jim Douglas - I was born 23 years ago in Dallas, TX to my two great parents, Rod and Cyndy Douglas. I also have a brother, Ben, who is two years younger and quite a bit different than me with long red hair and five inches taller. I grew up in the same house all my life and then went on to Fort Worth, TX to Texas Christian University for college to become a Horned Frog. I was able to be a part of a program in which I earned my Masters in Middle School Math Education in five years and graduated in May, 2010.
I grew up in a Christian home and was active in my youth group, passionate about including others and making them feel welcomed. I came to faith, knowing Christ as my savior when I was in 5th grade and have continued to mature in my faith since then. God has given me a passion to work with and minister to children and youth. I have worked as a camp counselor and student ministry intern. I can see myself helping out students succeed in school and meeting their various needs so they can do well.
I'm excited to be an intern at JIP to be pushed further than my comfort zone and grow in my faith. I'm looking forward to living in community with others different than me and learning from their past experiences and wisdom. I can't wait to see where God will place me as far as a partnering organization goes. I am looking forward to helping others and selflessly serving with God's love and putting others' needs ahead of my own.
Amanda Drury - Hi everyone! I'm 22 years old and I grew up in a small town outside ErieA with two wonderful parents and two older sisters. My parents have always told me I could do anything I put my mind to, and that attitude has served me well in life. They also took me to church, and faith has remained an integral part of my life. I grew up in the Methodist church, though I have explored other denominations.
I just graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, OH with a degree in Music, a Business Administration minor, and I took part in the Arts Management program. My main instrument is piano, though I also attempt singing and playing guitar.
Throughout all four years I was very active in the Office of Community Outreach, where I led a weekly service program and was a service-learning course assistant. It was through these experiences that I realized my passion for service and social justice issues. Two experiences confirmed my desire to work for social justice. For two summers during college I worked for Group Workcamps Foundation, where I ran mission trips for youth groups. Then last July I had the privilege of traveling to Cape Town, South Africa to study abroad. While there I witnessed South Africans living in an incredible community, sharing in each other's joys, hardships, and sorrows. It was completely different from the individualism I was used to. This experience was life changing for me, and I am excited at the challenges and growth I know will occur as I try to live in a similar way throughout the next year.
I addition to service and music, I love reading, hanging out with friends, traveling, taking naps, dancing, and baking cookies. I love warm weather and am excited to get out of the snow for the next year. I look forward to spending a year with the Johnson Intern Program as I discover more about the world and my place in it!
 Daniel Kamakura - I'm a recent Duke graduate looking to answer the age-old question that has puzzled Man since the Dawn of Time: "What do you do with a B.A. in English?" (Answer: TBA)
I enjoy music of all sorts, ranging from country to classical, and am an avid fan of films from the silent era onwards. I also enjoy English literature, be it medieval, Elizabethan, or Victorian, which was my major as an undergrad. In addition to being an English major, however, I am also proud to have minors in Biology and Chemistry. A side effect of being an avid science fiction fan/aspiring sci-fi writer, my interest in science also stems from my desire to become a primary care physician.
Someday I hope to publish a book in science fiction, because in addition to music, film, and literature, science has always been a passion of mine. To me, science represents just one example of mankind's unfailing capacity to solve any challenge that is set before him, no matter how complicated or impossible. Indeed, as Thomas Edison once said, "For every problem the Lord has made, He also made a solution."
That is my goal in joining JIP: to take the problems found in our communities, and be part of their solution. All the better, then, that JIP's mission is located in Chapel Hill, my home of more than nine years.
 Christina Massee - I am from Appleton, Minnesota where I have lived for the last 23 years of my life. My family consists of my parents Jim and Sydney, and my brothers Eddie and Jack. My family has been my rock, and some of the best experiences of my life have been traveling with them across the 50 states in our van and pop-up camper!
I spent my first two years of college at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and then transferred to (the MUCH smaller!) Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minnesota where I graduated with a degree in Social Science Education. That means I am able to teach U.S. History, World History, Psychology, Sociology, Economics, and Geography (whew!), although how well I am able to teach nyl of them has yet to be determined!!
I am a huge fan of reading (I will admit I have read the Twilight series, and enjoyed it!), playing piano, cheering for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Gopher hockey teams, and watching all other sporting events. Some of my other interests include traveling, experiencing new places and new people, my family and friends, and my faith.
Two summers ago I was blessed with an opportunity to spend 5 weeks volunteering in Kenya. That experience helped give me a better understanding of myself and the things I believe in. I hope my year with JIP will provide me with a chance to further my understanding of who I am, deepen my faith, and challenge me to grow. I am looking forward to meeting my fellow interns and can't wait to get started on this next journey!!
 Holly Mueller - Greetings and Salutations! I'm Holly Mueller (pronounced Miller) and I am thrilled to be a part of the Johnson Intern Program! I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri with my loving parents and my goofy older brother, Alex. I love food and traveling, especially when combined, and spent an exciting semester in Paris exploring with my eyes and my tongue. I'm also an avid reader and a poet which led me to major in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. There, I became a football fan and a total wimp about the cold.
After exploring sunny Southern California for four years, I decided it was time to spend some time at home in St. Louis. It was wonderful to be back with my family and friends and to rejoin my home congregation for a year. I grew up a Unitarian Universalist, and during my time at home, I taught Sunday School to a fabulous group of fifth and sixth graders, whom I'm going to miss. I spent the rest of my week serving as a third grade reading tutor in a St. Louis public elementary school through AmeriCorps.
The experience really hit home for me my love of service and my desire to take care of people, which has led me to JIP. I hope to discover if that desire to take care of people translates to a calling to the ministry and to explore my faith with all of the other interns. I am excited to meet everyone and spend a meaningful, fun-filled year together
 Emily Pierce - I graduated from The University of the South at Sewanee in May 2010 with a B.A. in English and a minor in Education. I studied abroad at St. Andrews University in Scotland the fall semester of my junior year and I would go back to Europe in a heartbeat. I dream of traveling the world one country at a time and Italy is currently at the top of my list. The great loves of my life would include (in no particular order): nature, God, finding God in nature, cooking and food, discovering new friendships, getting engrossed in a good book, dogs, driving with the windows down, and all branches of my friends and family. I have one older sister who is married with a five year old son, Jonny, and a dog, Ava (those are the two in my picture!). My family, including my extended family of my parents' brothers and sisters (four aunts and an uncle), are remarkably close and manage to remain so despite separations of time and distance.
I discovered JIP in the midst of the frustrating time after graduation during which I was trying desperately to find a job, any job, while at the same time praying fervently that God would put me in a place in which he could use me and I could serve him. I truly believe JIP was an answer to all my prayers and I hope to serve others during my time there while at the same time discovering God's purpose for me and my life. I can't wait to get started and meet everyone involved!
 Kelsey White - Hi!I grew up in the small, rural community of Union, SC. My mom, Ann, is a freelance writer who recently completed a master's in elementary education. My dad, Thom, is a criminal defense attorney who has long dreamed of opening a restaurant in retirement. My younger sister, Caitlin, is a creative writing major at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. I credit my hometown and my family with keeping me socially conscious and down-to-earth.
Growing up Presbyterian, service figured prominently in my understanding of faith. My parents' service trips inspired me to travel and influenced my later decision to study Spanish and social justice issues. I recently graduated from Maryville College, near Knoxville, TN, where I majored in Spanish language and literature, minored in nonprofit leadership, and dabbled in religion, international studies, and practically everything else! Trips to Honduras and Brazil, an internship with a public health NGO in Mexico, and a semester abroad in Chile provided me with a radically altered perspective of my place in the world.
I come to JIP with widely varying interests and a range of ideas for the future. I would like to find a meaningful way to use my language skills, perhaps through work with immigrant communities. I have considered social work, counseling, public health, nursing, midwifery, writing, and teaching as possible directions for my life, though I am staying open to all possibilities!
A recovering perfectionist, I am learning to live in the present and find joy in unexpected places. I see JIP as an ideal place to ask the questions posed by one of my favorite poets, Carl Sandburg: "Who am I, where am I going, and where have I been?" In the months to come, I hope to continue learning about myself, others, and the world around me, all the while clarifying my passions, crafting an authentic approach to faith and life, and attempting to discern how my particular gifts might contribute to meeting the world's deep hunger.
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