"I went from wanting to be president to wanting to be a Peace Corps member."
These are the words of Dave Morse '03, an Asian studies and government major who took his sophomore year off for a Tucker Foundation fellowship in Costa Rica, where he helped rural students pass the national English exam and worked with a local teacher to improve the curriculum.
While in Costa Rica, Morse found his own life was changing as much as the lives of the students he helped.
"My freshman year, I wanted to explore Latin America a little more in depth," Morse said. "It would satisfy my desire to see what doing service was like, and what the real world was like."
Morse didn't expect that the trip would so drastically change his outlook.
" Before I went, I was pretty much your typical government major -- I wanted to work on a campaign," Morse said. "My priorities have changed from a policy level to a personal level."
Staying with a Costa Rican family and witnessing their everyday struggles made Morse aware of social issues facing poverty-stricken individuals.
"The house was 30 by 30 [feet], with concrete walls and narrow wooden partitions," Morse said. "On the weeks when the dad didn't get a paycheck, they didn't have enough to eat. It broadened my perspectives."
The bonds he formed during those months motivated Morse to return to Costa Rica this year as the co-leader of a Tucker Alternative Spring Break trip in which Dartmouth students helped build a house and clinic in a remote indigenous reserve, then spent time working with former homeless children in a housing project outside of Costa Rica's capital city, San Jose.
"I used the knowledge that I had gained of the area to create an experience in which Dartmouth students are exposed to service, and can have something of the same experience I had," Morse said.
Co-leader Amish Parashar '03 described Morse as a driven individual who worked hard to make the trip a success. To ensure that volunteers did not have to pay for their travel expenses, Morse worked to raise enough funds to pay for the entire group's trip.
"He didn't agree with people having to pay to do community service," Parashar said.
"This year, there was much more opportunity for personal reflection, and I attribute that to Dave," Parashar said, emphasizing that Morse felt a responsibility as a trip leader to create a good environment for the group members.
Morse also felt that it was important to consider how a person approaches service.
"Service is something that happens in a dialogue, and I get as much as the person I help," Morse said. "Service has become a way of life. Once you see these things and form these relationships, once you know a 12-year-old who used to be homeless and a crack addict saved by the help of one person, you see the power a person can have. It's something irresistible to me."
Morse's involvement with Tucker extends beyond his time in Costa Rica. He mentors a 14-year-old boy from Lebanon and also works at Tucker in conjunction with his involvement in Edgerton House, Dartmouth's Episcopal campus outreach program."Dave is always here working on something," said Jason Keenum, who works with Tucker Fellows. "He is a ball of enthusiasm."
Morse works to organize the Wednesday-night dinners at the Edge, and said that his faith is linked to his commitment to service.
"Being active in the church and campus ministry comes together with Tucker," Morse said.
He also joined the cycling team this year. "It's a great way to get a workout and be outside," Morse said. "You get to see exotic places like Durham and New York."
Morse plans to continue his service work in the future.
"I am going this summer on the FSP to Beijing and am staying on in the fall to teach English and travel," he said.
