charles sripranarapanakul B A S W ‘ 0 4 , S C H O L A R S H I P R E C I P I E N T Students from the UW School of Social Work contribute to communities near home and afar, making this a better world for all children. Charles Sripranarapanakul visited Thailand, his father’s homeland, for the fist time when he was sixteen years old, traveling with his father to remote towns and villages. Charles had seen poverty before in his own neighborhood, south of Seattle, and his family “had our own experience with it,” he remembers. In Thailand, though, he saw a different poverty than “the kind you see in the U.S.,” he says. On streets and in alleys, he saw “lots and lots of poor children, little children-young girls carrying their baby siblings, begging and asking for coins.” What he saw there changed him forever. Charles knew he wanted to make a difference, large or small, in the lives of children growing up in tough circumstances. His parents had always taught him to “respect others and help when you can,” he says, and he began volunteering at Children’s Hospital. Later he became an AmeriCorps volunteer in an elementary school in White Center, working with “children from all over the world,” he recalls. Interested in language and culture, Charles entered the UW intending to major in anthropology. Soon he realized that his heart lay elsewhere. His true calling was with children. He applied to and was accepted by the UW School of Social Work. Charles recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work. His next stop? He has applied to the Peace Corps and hopes to be posted to Thailand. “I’d like to work in youth development,” he explains, “and create programs for kids.