Women’s Basketball: International Adventures

HANOVER, N.H. – Five members of the Dartmouth women's basketball program made trips to various overseas locations with each having a unique reason for traveling.

Isalys Quiñones: Senior Isalys Quiñones is currently playing for the Puerto Rican national team where the team is making its first ever appearance in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup which will be played in Tenerife, Spain on September 22-30. In 2017, Quiñones helped lead her team to a bronze medal in the FIBA Women's Americup. "It has been an awesome experience representing Puerto Rico", Said Quiñones. "To be able to represent an entire nation and its people is something that cannot be compared. There is so much pride that comes with representing a nation." Quiñones and the rest of the Puerto Rican national team begin their road to the World Cup on August 20 in the Centrobasket Tournament. The live stream can be found on the FIBA Youtube page.

Paula Lenart: Junior Paula Lenart recently finished playing with the Romanian national basketball team where she has been with many of the same teammates since her days beginning with the U13 team. "Being part of the national team not only allowed me to discover different styles in basketball, but also taught me how to be adaptable", Lenart said. "Now that I am also part of the senior team, wearing the bright yellow jersey, and singing the national anthem, not only reminds me of the people we represent, but is also the symbol of struggle, connection, friendship, frustration and laughter that our team experienced as we grew up together."

Emily Dryden: Senior Emily Dryden spent two months this past spring in the Ecuadorian city of Tena in the Amazon Rainforest where she lived with a native Kichwa family. She was able to do this through a program called Amazon Learning that is funded by the Dartmouth Student Experiential Learning Fund. Dryden's host family owns an ethnobotanical park in the Amazon that has natural caves and a botanical garden. She helped with all projects at the park, but focused on learning about medicinal plants and traditional medicine. Dryden's main project was creating a guide book for the most common plants in the garden with descriptions in Spanish and English as well as pictures. Dryden learned about spiritual and mental health and had the chance to be cleansed by a local healer.

Annie McKenna: For ten weeks, junior Annie McKenna studied in Barcelona Spain, where she was part of a language study abroad program that immerses students into the Spanish culture through a home stay. Although her host family does not speak English, living in a foreign country with a new culture, language, and collegiate system allowed McKenna to improve her Spanish speaking ability, learn to become more independent, responsible, adaptable, and appreciative while looking at life from a different viewpoint.

Simone Schmid: Served as Student Manager for the Dartmouth Women's Basketball team for three years. After graduating from Dartmouth in the spring of 2017, Simone attended a post-graduate program at Amani Institute on Social Innovation Management in Nairobi, Kenya for 9 months. She was one of 23 other fellows from around the globe to be accepted into the program. While in Nairobi, Simone developed leadership skills and learned more about the social sector, design thinking, and building a brand at the Amani Institute. Throughout the rest of her time in Nairobi, she volunteered at a community primary school located in the heart of a slum. At the predominantly donor-funded school, Simone served as an assistant teacher and administrative assistant while also creating a computer club and break program for the students.

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