Beaufort County Community College’s first international student is preparing to return home and utilize her degree for the greater good.

Emily Rukundo is set to graduate with an associate degree in human services technology in May, and is now pursuing a position with Global Public Health in her home country of Uganda, according to a press release. If she passes a second round of interviews, Rukundo can expect to be home and employed as early as June.

Rukundo participated in the Friendship Force program, traveling to the United States in April 2014 and staying with the Craig family in Bath while attending BCCC. The Rotary Club sponsored her studies, so Rukundo only had to pay in-state tuition, the release stated.

Upon her return to Uganda, Rukundo said she knows she wants to work with poor children — “to help the helpless.” By securing the job with Global Public Health, she would be able to work with children who have lost their parents to AIDS, providing them with health care resources, according to the release.

“We have the resources in Uganda, but people don’t know how to access them. There is a big gap between the rich and the poor,” she said.

Rukundo also applies what she learns in the classroom to her work with the Boys & Girls Club of Beaufort County, tutoring some of the students as part of BCCC’s work-study program.

“Children need your attention ever single minute. It’s challenging to always have your eye on them,” Rukundo said. But through her tutoring, she also tried to instill motivation in the students, teaching them that they can succeed no matter what the circumstances.

She said she has enjoyed her time in Beaufort County, and while she has been lucky to have the Craigs’ support, as well as that of the college, she is ready to return home and get to work.

Along with her work at Global Public Health, Rukundo said she has plans to eventually open a shoe factory in Uganda to teach the children work skills and provide an avenue for earning money.

“The poor give up (on trying to access services) because they believe that they will never have a lot. They need someone to remind them that they deserve more,” she said. “It is your future. You can accomplish all the same things that I have.”