It is hard to realize that this fellowship, nine months later, is coming to an end. At times this experience was extremely enjoyable, at other times it was unbelievably stressful, but at no time was I not learning more about myself, those around me, and about the world in general. Living in an environment completely different than what I have grown up in has always been rewarding. Whether that is in Manila, Amman, or even transitioning from Portland to Santa Clara, I have always tried to take the most from these new environments. However, my time living in the Philippines really helped me realize what I want to work towards for my future.

In my experiences living in the developing world, I learned that becoming as involved as I could in the culture that surrounded me was crucial to me benefitting the most from my time there. During my time in Jordan my engagement included speaking Arabic as frequently as I could, meeting as many people as possible, and trying to see all of the country and enjoy all of its wonders. This merely kicked off my desire to continue to travel and become involved in cultures significantly different than my own.

Though I was able to constantly learn from my surroundings in Jordan, working for an NGO didn’t quite let me directly engage with the people I was helping. This was quite different than my experience with Rags2Riches. My time in Manila allowed me to meet a lot of the artisans that the enterprise employed. By hearing their personal stories and talking with them beyond simply piloting the social impact survey, I gained a personal connection with these people. They were all very welcoming towards me, offered me delicious food, and treated me as a person instead of just a foreigner. I learned that there is a happiness that stretches far beyond the Western idea of material comfort. But, while learning this, I also learned that there were many improvements needed to raise the standard of living for these poverty stricken communities. These people lack the basic opportunities and commodities that they truly deserve. I do not wish to impose my cultural views on them by any means, but I do wish to help eradicate the basic issues of poverty. The more I see less developed nations, the more necessary I feel it is for me to do something to help. Feeling so attached to the problems that the developing world face, it is hard for me to look at poverty as just a statistic.

This fellowship also taught me about the need to provide sustainable solutions to problems of poverty. Though foreign aid can help, it can also be mismanaged, used inefficiently, or placed in the hands of corrupt government officials. However, managing foreign aid correctly and using it to fund efficient NGOs and social enterprises can play a crucial role in solving the world’s problems. Rags2Riches, as well as many of the other social enterprises I learned about, proved to me that helping the poor help themselves is the best way to bring an end to poverty. Rags2Riches not only employed artisans with good salaries, but they also showed them how to save their money to spend on health care, education, and other useful commodities. The idea of giving a man or woman a fish versus teaching him or her how to fish significantly applies to social entrepreneurship. How much longer can the United States simply give away its fish, or in reality why should it only do that?

Though I do not see myself working directly for a social enterprise, I do not necessarily think that I will avoid them altogether. Unfortunately, my career goals do not include working in this field due to a few factors. First, I do desire to make a bit more money than a social enterprise would allow me to. I realize that this is somewhat selfish, but I cannot refuse to care for my own needs as well. Santa Clara has cost me in the form of student loans, and those are a priority for me right now. Second, I believe that I could better use my skills to help combat poverty in other ways. I am somebody who enjoys conducting research and working in policy, and I feel that I could use these skills in working for the US government. Finally, I truly do desire to work for either the government or an IGO, this has been my calling for a while now and I want to do everything I can to make this happen.

Becoming socially engaged in a community you seek to help is vital to understanding the problems they face. Poverty is not a one size fits all solution, rather each case is unique in its own way and must be addressed as so. It would be hard for me to say that I could do this by working for the government, but it would also be a lie to say that I could not work with NGOs and social enterprises that do this by pursuing this career field. I believe that my research and analytical skills gained from studying political science could be used help dictate policy and allocate funds towards projects aimed at alleviating poverty. Helping those who are disadvantaged really is something I want to be able to do again in my life, but what outlet I chose to do this through is not certainly clear to me yet.

This fellowship helped remind me that I want to work internationally. Furthermore, it gave me a personal connection to poverty. I have always lived a comfortable life, and given the resources I have available to me, I feel that it is necessary for me to help those less fortunate. That is why I have decided that I am going to move to D.C. this upcoming summer to find a job working for an NGO or government agency. This may not bring me direct involvement in working with poverty, but I believe it is a fundamental step towards me making that happen. I also have realized that the government agencies I want to work for in the future favor those with Master’s degrees, so it will take me some time before I can start working in the career that I want. My plan as of now is to gain work experience, then head to graduate school, and finally apply for a few government agencies that I feel I could help me become involved in international poverty again.

Though I could continue to go on about how this fellowship made me want to help solve poverty, I think it also had an impact on me in numerous other ways. About a year ago, I had not really thought about my future and did not take it very seriously. I did what I could to get by in school, and kept my options very open. This fellowship appealed to me because I knew it would give me more experience in a field that I thought was very rewarding. However, I never fully understood how serious the nine-month commitment I agreed to really would be. As soon as class in the spring began, I realized that I had a long journey ahead of me.

The work I did in the spring was very challenging, but it also got me very excited for what I would be doing in the Philippines with Rags2Riches. I also learned a great deal about poverty in general and what important steps social entrepreneurship has taken towards finding solutions. At the time I thought that it was really awesome that were people out there that were that inspiring, but that that could never be me. Though I still don’t believe that I wish to be a social entrepreneur, I do feel that I can help the world in other similar ways.

I was so excited to finally get to Manila and begin directly working with the enterprise. I had been giving a detailed schedule of what we would be doing with our time in the Philippines, and could not be more excited to finally implement it. However, I had no clue that what I would take most from this experience would be what I learned upon visiting the communities. As I have discussed before, seeing how terrible the living conditions of the poor were in the Philippines left a huge impact on me. Beyond feeling the need to help, this experience also caused me to reflect upon my own life. How lucky was I to be able to embark on such an adventure to go to a country so vastly different than my own? In fact, it wasn’t even the first time I was able to do this! But, in reality, it was because I was the one from the US that I was able to do this. I was the person who had been able to live such a comfortable life with so much support to allow me to pursue whatever I truly desired. These people living in poverty in Manila would probably never get to travel outside of the Philippines, or maybe not even the city. They were too concerned with helping their children escape poverty, or trying to get by on a daily basis to focus on much else. Seeing this reality, it made me realize that I have an obligation to myself to make the best of my life. I could not do this by merely getting by in school, refusing to think about my future, or simply just not caring all that much about what I had and what I could have.

Overall, this fellowship changed me for the better. I was able to constantly learn from my surroundings in a very unique way. Yet, the largest impact it had on me was that I had to work for whatever I wanted in life. I’m been so lucky to have been born into a life where I haven’t been denied from so many opportunities, and it would truly be a waste for me to not acknowledge that. This fellowship taught me to be motivated, and that I have the ability to do anything if I work hard enough. My career goals will not be easy to reach, but I am ready to sacrifice whatever it takes to make them a reality. I am not so sure I would have had this realization had I stayed in California this summer and worked some mediocre job. This truly has been the experience of a lifetime, and I know that it will propel me forward to wherever I want to be.

To put into words the emotions that overcame me upon my first encounter with one of the communities that Rags2Riches served is one of the hardest things I’ve ever attempted to do. It was one thing to see the abject poverty, yet, it was another to think about my own life and the privileges I’ve taken for granted. I can’t sum the feeling up to simply sad, sympathetic, anger, or even a combination of the three. This was a once in a lifetime emotion that I hope I never have to feel again.

This neighborhood was filled with garbage, sewage, stray animals, crammed homes with tin covered roofs, and so on. However, it was so hard for me to accept that it was filled with real human beings. I could not for the life of me come to terms with the fact that people were forced to live here and had no way out. And what, I was so great because I was coming to “help them?” I felt so ashamed that I was comfortable living with the daily luxuries I’ve had while these people, on a daily basis, had struggles to deal with that I will never face in my life.

After walking for about ten minutes through this neighborhood, we finally came to the community center in which the community meeting was to be held. It was a makeshift living room in the homes of one of the beneficiaries. While still feeling inundated by these emotions that had overcame me, the women of the community began to show up. Being one of three white people in the room, I assumed that my presence would intimidate most of the women. Oddly enough, I was the one who felt more nervous or in awe due to how I was handling the situation while they were the ones laughing away and asking me a plethora of questions. They embraced my team and I with open arms and did their very best to make us feel at home. This dichotomy of feelings was so strange to me. I had just gone through the most eye opening and life-altering experience of my life, but then all the sadness I felt began to feel somewhat inappropriate. These people, people just like you and I, were extremely happy. Hell, probably happier than I am on most days. Of course they would kill to be in the position I was in while I would not truly like to take theirs, but that was never complained about. In fact, after telling them I studied political science they hoped that I’d become the president some day.

However, I wanted to hear their stories and not explain mine. So after the meeting was held and the survey was piloted, I began to ask unrelated questions. After talking for almost an hour with one woman, I discovered she was the valedictorian of her high school. Yes, the valedictorian. In the United States, that title would grant you an education and/or future of your choice. Unfortunately, the Philippines left much less opportunity even for the educated. Though this was her experience, she still extremely valued education for her children. This was to be the tool they would use to bring them out of poverty. She was so thankful for everything Rags2Riches had helped her achieve and for the sense of community it brought to her. All of these women were so close, and you could tell this just be spending five minutes with them. This made me wonder how I could ever complain with the capabilities bestowed upon me just by being born.

Though I felt extremely sympathetic for these women and the conditions they had to live in, I also envied them in a strange way. They were so unbelievably happy. The skills one must posses in order to be happy under these circumstances are beyond anything I’m capable of. Also, it was them who showed the confidence to begin conversations with us. In fact, I don’t even know if I can describe it as confidence since it came so naturally to them. These people are not incapable of doing big things (by American standards, that is), they just weren’t given the opportunity to. It made me realize, I am no better than them whatsoever. In fact, if they were born under my family and socioeconomic class and I theirs, they’d be the ones coming on a school fellowship to come help me. Which is why I truly feel that we should never look at poverty in the sense that, “oh we’re so smart and worked hard, that’s why we are here and they are there.” Don’t believe me? Try telling a single mom from an impoverished Filipino community trying to feed an entire family on less than one hour’s minimum wage after working a full day that you work harder than them. Hard to do isn’t it? The solution should not be to give to the poor necessarily, but instead to give the same opportunities to the poor.

I now know that my calling is to help eradicate poverty in any way that I can. It would be so regretful to look back on my life and see that I did nothing to address those feelings I had that morning of my first community visit. That is not something that I could ever forget, and will serve as a constant reminder to me that there are things in this world much bigger than myself. I know that I am not a person who will have to worry about money regardless of my career path, and therefore I need to help those who do. A fulfilling life for me will be one in which I selflessly give all of my talents towards helping others, and I by no means want to live an unfulfilling life.

My life has consisted of constantly trying to find my calling, or vocation if you will. At first I wanted to be a Doctor because that’s what both of my parents did, then my desires shifted towards becoming a lawyer because of my strong dislike for science and my ability to argue. However, my experiences at Santa Clara have changed my thoughts on my future career path tremendously.

In order to best understand my experiences at Santa Clara I should begin by explaining my background and how I came to find my college. I was born in Jackson, MS and shortly after moved to Portland, OR where I spent my entire life until college. Growing up in Oregon and seeing all of the beauty it has to offer from its green forests, majestic lakes and rivers and its towering mountains has granted me with a special appreciation for the world around me. Yet, it never occurred to me that I could find a career in giving back to the world that has provided so much for me and instead I always desired to enter a regular profession similar to that of my parents.

It was not until high school where I found myself growing intellectually and beginning to understand the world around me. The newly found challenges in both academics and athletics greatly appealed to me, as I had not been previously challenged in life. Playing both football and basketball while trying to balance my academic life was stressful, but at the same time I loved the adversity. Overcoming challenges is what drove me to work hard in sports, its what drove me to study late at night for tests, and its what still drives me today to be the best person I can be. As an AP student, I was constantly challenged academically. However, my most challenging classes actually lead me to study what I do today. Government and Politics and US History both appealed to me the most, maybe because my teacher was so outstanding, but mostly because I had such an interest in both subjects. They provided me with a great understanding of how nations work in order to best solve their problems and work with each other to solve issues on an international scale. I strongly believed that getting involved in international relations could give me the potential to help fix some of the adversity that the world faces. Now I am working towards graduating with a Political Science degree from Santa Clara University.

In high school, I was required to participate in community service activities that included serving food at local soup kitchens, assisting with Special Olympic events and cleaning parks and cemeteries. This oxymoron of being forced to do volunteer work never resonated with me, and I usually shrugged off these activities as merely something I needed to do. The community service I did never gave me a sense of fulfillment above completing a required task. At the time, I never thought I would do work in this realm ever again.

Once I graduated high school and moved on to Santa Clara University, it came to me that I really didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. Since I had much more free time outside of class than I had ever had I decided to find an extra curricular activity to do. I landed upon doing community service for a local middle school. This brought me a new kind of satisfaction, as it was something that I independently chose to do in order to give back to my community.

Studying both Political Science and the Arabic language initiated my engagement in international relations. I had taken multiple courses on the role governments play in solving the world’s toughest challenges such as poverty, gender discrimination, and lack of government accountability. Unfortunately, I had begun to realize that most of the time these governments did a poor job. This was overwhelmingly noticeable in the Middle East, which came to be of great interest to me. Since I had both the language skills and the political understanding (or so I thought) of the region, I realized that I had a wonderful opportunity to study abroad there.

The autumn of my junior year was spent both studying and interning in Amman, Jordan. This perhaps has been the greatest experience of my life as far as grasping my calling towards whatever future vocation I may end up in. My original intent on doing this was to enhance my experience in the field of international relations. Instead, while working for an NGO known as the Jordan Visions Center, my attention was drawn to the extreme poverty and other problems that I had not before encountered while living in America. The work I was able to do for the Jordan Visions Center was extremely rewarding for me since it made me feel like I was contributing to the development of Jordan. Regardless, it was still not enough, as I knew that providing aid to these problems would not forever eradicate them. The politics involved in NGO work can be very depressing, as it is very restrictive and does not always bring about sustainable solutions. So, when I discovered the Global Social Benefit Fellowship, I knew that I had found something to further my skills in development.

The main difference found between the action research offered in the Global Social Benefit Fellowship and the development work involved in NGOs can be explained in one simple quote: “give a man a fish, and you have fed him once. Teach him how to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” The developmental work I had done in Amman was definitely a good thing. Yet, it did not seem to get to the base of the problem or find viable solutions. Therefore, the problems will continue without a real answer. This fellowship has offered me an opportunity to get to the root of an issue and provide sustainable solutions that can serve as a precedent to eradicate similar problems. Poverty cannot be eliminated merely with monetary aid; people need to be able to feed themselves. This can only be done through providing the poor with education, health care, and employment opportunities. The world is becoming more globalized than it ever has been before, and it is essential that we do not leave anybody behind.

Welcome to Blogs@SCU Sites. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!