Senior Rayna Wolff, president of the Community Service Leadership activity, created and leads a chapter of the nonprofit organization Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) at the Upper School for Girls. She got involved with the organization after a representative came and spoke to her activity group.

Her passion for early childhood education grew once she saw the impact early childhood education had on her own brother, who has autism. He went through a program at age three, at which time “he was completely nonverbal.” Once he completed it, however, Wolff said he was “able to socialize and… give me hugs, which was really special.”

Wolff wants every child to be able to have these experiences, even if parents can’t afford to pay for any form of childcare for their kids. This passion greatly guided her college decision. “The number one reason why I chose Tulane was because it is number one in community service and social justice,” she said. Since there is not a chapter of SCAN at Tulane, Wolff is planning on starting one there.  

Wolff encourages students who want to create change in an area they are passionate about to do advocacy work even if  “they think that they don’t know all the information about the issue.” She speaks of her own experience going into SCAN, without knowing much about the issues, in comparison to her knowledge now.  

Most of all Wolff wants her peers know about the power they have to change the world. “Teens really make a difference and can have their voices heard,” she said. “If you are passionate about something then you can definitely make a difference.”