our arlington neighbors: Torey Driggs

Torey is one of the volunteers that makes ABB’s work possible! Her heart for service grew during college, particularly for Latino communities. Today, she continues this service with our neighbors through the food pantry. We are blessed to know her.
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"My name is Torey Driggs and I am from Arlington, VA. I’ve lived here on and off my entire life but also have spent a lot of time in Blacksburg, VA as an undergraduate and now graduate student at Virginia Tech.

A fun fact about me is that I fully learned Spanish in three years and now am actually working towards an M.A. in Hispanic Studies! I became determined to learn more about the language and associated cultures after traveling to Ecuador and coming to terms with not even being able to communicate with others on a basic level. As soon as I got the chance, which was during my second year as an undergraduate, I took a Spanish class. I immediately fell in love and sought out opportunities to immerse myself through tutoring in the Spanish language, attending conversation hours, and surrounding myself with Spanish speakers. I was also fortunate enough to study Spanish abroad in Spain twice and in Costa Rica once. 

The ABB food pantry has given me the opportunity to continue to practice the language and learn. When I served through the pantry, I loved making other peoples’ days by bringing food to their porches and they reciprocally made my day not only through allowing me to practice Spanish, but also through their positive mindsets and energy despite the challenging times. I hope to be able to meet these lovely people again and continue to learn from them through great conversations!"