Mattias Tammekänd, a student at the University of Tartu in Tartu, Estonia, was unexpectedly placed in Yelm for his summer internship with Southwestern Advantage to sell educational books to families confused about the future of education in the city.
Tammekänd is in his second summer working with Southwestern Advantage, which is the oldest entrepreneurial and direct-selling program for college students in the world. He visited Texas last summer for his first trip to the United States, and he returned to the U.S. in June, first working in Olympia, where he is staying with a host family, and then working in Yelm.
He is a door-to-door salesman selling educational books for children of all ages. His offerings include study guides for math and other subjects; fun and educational books for preschool and kindergarten students; and advanced learning materials for SAT and ACT test preparation.
“People in Yelm are so friendly. I’ve gotten to know more about the people around here. There’s so many cool families,” Tammekänd said. “I’ve been having a blast. It’s a pretty fun job.”
Tammekänd visited Yelm City Hall upon his arrival to the city to purchase his solicitor’s permit, and he met Police Chief Rob Carlson while on his trip.
“He was super friendly and so kind. I told him that we always meet and take pictures with the police chiefs just to make our lives a little bit easier and safer and so that the police know what we’re doing,” Tammekänd said.
From his hours spent going door to door in Yelm, he learned that the families were concerned about the future of education in the city amid Yelm Community Schools’ ongoing budget cuts after the failure of its educational programs and operations levy. Tammekänd used that knowledge not only to gather more sales but also to make a difference in the community.
“I definitely think that these books can help. I truly believe that they can help loads of families, especially when it comes to what’s been happening here in Yelm with the teachers getting cut,” he said. “I truly believe that the books can actually help with schoolwork, as well, because families always tell me that the way that they do things nowadays is completely different when it comes to math and different subjects.”
As Tammekänd enters his third year of college studying physical education and sports science, he hopes to take what he has learned in school and in his internship to become a physical education teacher or soccer coach in Estonia. He recently coached a small soccer team made up of children around the age of 10 and enjoyed putting what he studied in college into practice.
“The thing that you learn most doing this job is communicating with so many different people. When it comes to coaching, they have to deal with the whole team and know what to say,” he said. “It’s cool to start with the younger kids, but, in the future, I would actually like to get into the professional level as a coach.”
As Tammekänd approaches his final week in Olympia and Yelm, he thanked the Yelm families for embracing him and making him feel welcome in a foreign place nearly 5,000 miles away from his family.
“I want to thank all the people in Yelm. Everybody has been so fun to talk to and super respectful to me. I feel really welcomed here,” Tammekänd said.
