I look at the person I have become and I think to myself, how did I end up here? I can recall two experiences that shaped my future.
First Experience:
My first experience was when I was in 8th grade, debating whether or not to attend a public school that was only two blocks from home, or a private Jesuit high school near my parent’s sort. Please keep in mind my parents had no clue of my dilemma. It’s actually quite funny how I made this decision.
I still remember I was registering for classes at the public middle school, and English teacher said, “Hey Kiara you should register for AP classes,” and I replied, “Oh okay, no idea what they are but okay.” As I was on the computer, I had a feeling and told myself, “Man this doesn’t feel right, I don’t want to go to this school and be with the same people, what’s the point? Besides I feel that this school is too big.” A couple of days later I saw a flyer about a new school opening around the corner of my parents’ store in Minneapolis. I looked at the flyer and I had a good feeling about this school, so I dragged my dad to all the informationals about the school. Next thing I know I had made my parents sign all the papers to enroll. I was officially enrolled at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Twin Cities for fall 2007. I was part of the first graduating class. I graduated as one of the top students in my class and with four years of corporate experience. The mentors and friends I had gained at this school, influenced my decision to leave Minnesota to purse a college education in a Jesuit institution to study business in the best place in the world, the Silicon Valley. This brings up my second experience that impacted my life, going to college.
Second Experience:
Making the decision to move to California not knowing anyone or having family was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I made this decision because I followed what my heart was saying. My heart was telling me to take a leap of faith, to go for it even if I had to take out a loan. So I went for it, I moved to California. A taxi picked me up at the hotel I was staying in near San Jose, and we made two pit stops. One was to Bed-Bath-and-Beyond to pick up my dorm items and second stop was to Santa Clara University.
At the time it seemed very normal to move in a taxi to the dorms. I’ve now discovered that a lot of the things I do seem very normal to me but others would say it’s crazy or naïve. Once I step back and actually see what I did, I always surprise myself and agree with what others say, “Yes I was crazy!” haha.
Moving to California did prove to be a huge challenge as I was unable to predict any of the challenges I soon found myself facing. I am proud to say, that I was able to hurdle all of the obstacles that was thrown in front of me, whether or not I was able to succeed the first time or not, I continued to fight. I did everything to overcome the obstacles and I would keep going with scrapes, sweat and tears. The most important thing I learned about myself is that I never stopped. If I ever did fall to my knees, I would say to myself, “I just can’t do it, I can’t go over that hurdle there, I just can’t go over it.” Every time I felt like this, I would always come across amazing people who would grab me by the hand and say, “Kiara that’s not the only way to go through the hurdle.”
Now, as a senior I know that I didn’t complete this journey (college) alone rather I did it with a whole group of people behind me, rooting for me. It’s as if I was in a track and field race doing hurdles and the fans were cheering me on screaming, “You can do it Kiara, you can finish, you most definitely don’t have to be first or do it with flying colors, but finishing is all you have to do!”
I guess what I am trying to say is this,
I made two decisions in my life that so far have shaped me to be the individual that I am today. I decided which high school I wanted to attend and I decided what university I wanted to go to. If it weren’t for those two experiences, I wouldn’t have come across the fellowship as a junior.
Global Social Benefit Fellowship:
The GSBF program opened my eyes to career opportunities that still revolved around business and serving a community. The fellowship made me consider working for a social enterprise or even working abroad in another country.
This fellowship made me realize that I love working with other cultures. I love getting out of my comfort zone and learning how other people solve problems. That is why as a senior I am still trying to figure my piece in the puzzle, I am going with what my heart is telling me to do which is to go out there and learn from the best of the best so that one day I can give back. After I conducted market field research with Ilumexico. I realized that I was fascinated by all the data and creating sense of it was a challenge, but I loved it. I love it because I knew at the end of the day what I was doing something was going to improve someone’s life. The possibility that I could apply my skills that I learned abroad to a real job and work for a fortune 500 company in order to improve the livelihood of people at a local or global scale is amazing! With all the knowledge I have accumulated so far at Cristo Rey, Santa Clara University and through the fellowship, are all skills that I want to use for a greater good. In the short-run I am interested in looking for a career in market research but I am also open to relocating anywhere. Ever since high school I acquired a Spanish saying that describes my experiences: “A donde punte la chancla” Wherever the shoe points is where I am going. I am uncertain on where my future is leading me, and that both excites me and scares me. After this fellowship I realized that the sky is the limit on where I can go and do.