Mackenzie Michaels, junior on the Auburn equestrian team, finished her finals May 5 and by the next day was hard at work again, but this time in Merida, Mexico.
Studying equine science with a minor in public health and agricultural business, Michaels’ trip to Mexico didn’t involve horses, but instead working to change the lives of 55 kids.
Michaels joined her father, an anesthesiologist at Florida Hospital, and traveled to Mexico with Sharing Smiles, an organization dedicated to helping children living with cleft lips and cleft palates.
These abnormalities mean either the children have one or two holes in their lips, or the roofs of their mouths are split down the middle.