Wongel Yohannes

Wongel Yohannes ‘20 has become quite a world traveler this year! Wongel, a senior Assisi Scholar, is currently exploring Assisi and Rome with her classmates on the Assisi Scholar pilgrimage. Wongel is no stranger to world exploration, though - she recently returned from a summer-long trip to Ethiopia with her family. In addition to her travels, Wongel commits herself enthusiastically to her classes and is a student ambassador and a member of Roger Bacon’s cross country team.

For Wongel, her summer trip to Ethiopia was truly an experience of a lifetime. Many of Wongel’s family members--her mom’s sisters and brothers--live in Ethiopia. She spent the summer living in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, getting to know these family members, many of whom Wongel had never met before. By the end of the trip, they had grown very close. “It was amazing how much all of us could bond and grow close in such a short time,” Wongel said. “It was really hard to leave at the end of the summer!”

In addition to spending time with her family, Wongel learned more about the culture and history of Ethiopia on her trip. She visited Lalibela, a town where dozens of churches were carved into stone over a thousand years ago. Wongel enjoys learning about history in places like Lalibela, where stories about the past come to life. Seeing historic churches and other sites in Assisi and Rome with her classmates is what Wongel was most looking forward to as she prepared for this week’s pilgrimage. Before the trip, Wongel shared her excitement: “It will be amazing to experience all of these places that were significant to St. Francis and St. Clare, and especially to visit and learn about them with my classmates and friends.”

Wongel’s teachers agree that she is a hard-working, curious, and dedicated student. She works hard in all her classes, often going above and beyond to make sure her she does her best. Dr. Deb Luebbe, Wongel’s English teacher and director of the Assisi Scholar program, said, “Wongel is respected by her peers. She is insightful and a hard worker. I was especially impressed with the planning and research she did before and during her trip to Ethiopia. She plans to present her Assisi Scholar capstone presentation on the connections between architecture and religion in Ethiopia. She has already done an excellent job collecting information on this topic, based on her research and experiences.”

One thing that might surprise people about Wongel is, even though she doesn’t often perform in front of big groups, she loves to sing! (Maybe she’ll enter the talent show this year…) Wongel is also very artistic, and she hopes to combine her artistic and academic passions in college next year by majoring in architecture.

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