Laying the Groundwork<\/strong><\/p>\n My earliest memories include my parents reading books to me each night. I fondly <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I also clearly remember my mom being pregnant with my little sister.\u00a0I attended a big-sister class at the hospital to learn about caring for infants. I was fascinated by the \u201cbaby in mommy\u2019s tummy,\u201d and I wanted to do everything that my mom did to prepare for having a child. And so began my enthusiasm infant and maternal health.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What Makes Me Happy<\/strong><\/p>\n On the surface, my interest in bioengineering stems from my inclination toward math and science and my admiration of my parents\u2019 careers as an engineer and a nurse practitioner. Looking back, however, I realize my interest stems from my lifelong desire to help others. At day care, I played with Sarah, a little girl who was missing the lower portion of one arm. I discovered Sarah\u2019s frustration completing simple tasks after she struggled to grip Legos. I picked up the pieces she dropped and came to appreciate the joy I found in helping others, as well as the health I had been blessed with.<\/p>\n I later spent time in hospitals\u2014on one occasion for appendicitis and again after breaking my leg a few years later. These experiences exposed me to first-rate medical technology and high-quality healthcare, and they reinforced my appreciation for my health. My cumulative interest in medicine and health motivated me to pursue lifeguarding during the summers in high school and an EMT certification last summer.<\/p>\n I found that these kinds of experiences make me happy. Sometimes, an injured patron interrupts a typically mundane shift, and my instinct and training kick in. I am left beaming with satisfaction for the remainder of the day knowing that I helped someone in distress. Even something as ordinary as putting Band-Aids on a cut is rewarding because I have used skills and compassion to improve another person\u2019s well-being. This logic led me to Santa Clara University, whose mission embodies the values that fuel my goals as a bioengineering major. I even remember reading about the Global Social Benefit Fellowship during the college application process and writing about it in my application to SCU. I aspired to help those who do not have the quality health and medical care with which I was blessed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What Drives Me<\/strong><\/p>\n If I was asked at the beginning of my freshman year if I had a passion for social justice, I would have said no. I viewed social justice issues as sensitive topics reserved for political debate. Yet, I sought an education applicable to shaping a better world, which inherently involves tackling social injustices.<\/p>\n After reflection, I realized that my childhood fostered a deep-rooted empathy for unjust poverty. For the first 10 years of my life, I lived in Long Beach, California\u2014home to one of the starkest income inequalities in the nation. 5% of children live in poverty in East Long Beach, while the adjacent Central Long Beach and Signal Hill neighborhoods suffer from a 45% child poverty rate. Between private, Catholic school, summer camps at subsidized public schools, and programs at local recreation centers, I had the unique opportunity of to make friends with children from diverse backgrounds. Upon moving to Evergreen, Colorado, I was frustrated by the lack of socioeconomic and racial diversity in such a rural, secluded community.<\/p>\n But my connection with people from less fortunate socioeconomic backgrounds stuck with me. I was aware of my privilege as a white teenage girl whose parents had dedicated all of their love and resources to ensure that I could take advantage of every opportunity possible. Yet, I was empathetic towards those from different backgrounds. In my speech at high school graduation, I asked my peers to be grateful for their opportunities and to consider what my parents taught me: \u201cFrom those to whom much has been given, much will be required\u201d (Luke 12:48). But what is \u201cmuch?\u201d\u00a0 I have learned that \u201cmuch\u201d isn\u2019t about the biggest impact or accomplishment; it is about how you give yourself to others.<\/p>\n The adults in my life taught me that lesson through their vocations. My mom followed in the steps of her father who served in the Army when she served as a nurse in the Air Force. And my dad views his role in construction engineering management as a service to society because he helps ensure health, safety, and sustainability. Through stories and nagging reminders, my dad instilled in me a standard of hard work set forth by his dad. Amidst the Great Depression, my grandfather was the only child in his family to graduate from high school and earn a degree. I learned about his perseverance and sacrifice on a trip to New Orleans, where the U.S.S. Kidd Navy destroyer resides. As a Commander on this ship in the Korean War, my grandad overcame social, financial, and health barriers to serve his country and provide for his family. While my grandparents\u2019 and parents\u2019 accomplishments do not boast notable accolades, they embody the selfless emptying of their time, energy, and hard work to be of service to others. These role models instilled in me the ambition to directly serve others through my career.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finding What I Am Good At<\/strong><\/p>\n This ambition has driven me to explore a variety of interests and career avenues. In high school, I juggled an array of activities ranging from student government to sports to nannying. Recently, however, I have narrowed my involvement to activities in which I directly interact with people. As an Orientation Leader, I listened to and spoke with incoming freshmen. I loved learning skills directly applicable to the job and spending time with a group of people so that I could come to understand their situation.<\/p>\n Combining my natural inclination to connect with people with an underlying desire to serve those in most need, I sought out work with Resilient Families Program (RFP). RFP is a community-based intervention aimed at improving family resilience, children\u2019s school success, and parenting skills for immigrant families in San Jose, California. After two quarters delivering curriculum to Latino immigrant mothers in small discussion groups, I witnessed the promotoras <\/em>(lay community member who receive training to provide basic health education) implement the program entirely on their own. Through this service, I learned to interact sensitively with the immigrant mothers, many of whom were undocumented. As a 21-year old student native to the United States, I do not know what it is like to be a mother\u2014let alone a Spanish-speaking immigrant. I learned to consider that \u201cour\u201d way may not always be the right <\/em>or best<\/em> or only <\/em>way. Seeing the mothers that I had once worked alongside take the reigns and passionately promote and deliver RFP was fulfilling. It also encouraged me to pursue Global Social Benefit Fellowship.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Discernment<\/strong><\/p>\n While studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, I considered pursuing a technical internship in Silicon Valley. I was drawn to the stability, challenge, and prestige of working for a corporate medical device company. But at the same time, it didn\u2019t sit completely right with me. On a weekend excursion to Morocco, I first witnessed the poverty of the developing world. I also traveled to Poland this past summer for World Youth Day, where the Pope spoke about having mercy for the world\u2019s poorest and most vulnerable. In the past, I had been intimidated by the overwhelming extent of poverty, and I struggled to envision how I may help alleviate it. But through my coursework at Santa Clara, I came to understand that takes many, smaller efforts that chip away at poverty a little at a time. I couldn\u2019t reconcile working for a company that serves people who already have access to quality healthcare without first exploring how I might leverage my skills to help those in most<\/em> need.<\/p>\n Given that I have been blessed with my Catholic Faith, mass is an important part of my week. I debated whether or not to apply to the fellowship when I was reminded of my original eagerness to serve others. The reading in mass humbled me to consider \u201cthe lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, reduce to nothing those who are something\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). The homily encouraged me to serve the most vulnerable rather than my self-worth.<\/p>\n Now I am excited to work with Christine and Shanti Uganda to do so. The fellowship is uniquely beneficial to the fellows and the beneficiaries. It offers lessons from the developing world that can be applied to poverty in the United States. And, though I do not know how I will ultimately use skills to make positive change in the world, the fellowship is a remarkable opportunity to clarify how my vocation and passion for bettering the health of women\u00a0and children in poverty\u00a0intersect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who am I and why am I called to be a Global Social Benefit Fellow? When I reflect on this question, I cannot pinpoint one reason. Rather, several experiences and memories drive me to explore social entrepreneurship as a means of improving the health of those in poverty. Laying the Groundwork My earliest memories include … Continue reading Who I Am and My Calling to the Fellowship<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1507,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"qubely_global_settings":"","qubely_interactions":"","kk_blocks_editor_width":"","_kiokenblocks_attr":"","_kiokenblocks_dimensions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"gutentor_comment":0,"qubely_featured_image_url":null,"qubely_author":{"display_name":"maggiemay","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/author\/maggiemay\/"},"qubely_comment":0,"qubely_category":"Uncategorized<\/a>","qubely_excerpt":"Who am I and why am I called to be a Global Social Benefit Fellow? When I reflect on this question, I cannot pinpoint one reason. Rather, several experiences and memories drive me to explore social entrepreneurship as a means of improving the health of those in poverty. Laying the Groundwork My earliest memories include…","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/files\/2017\/04\/IMG_1078-e1492438297430-225x300.jpg\")
\nremember thanking God \u201cfor my legs, walking and running,\u201d as my mom tucked me into bed. I was raised Catholic and attended St. Joseph\u2019s Elementary, where prayer was a part of our routine throughout every day. At a young age, I developed a foundation of faith, which provides a moral compass for me today.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/maggielmay\/files\/2017\/04\/51398336399__34550321-F7DF-4F21-A2AD-3C98BD5C74F5-e1492438330816-225x300.jpg\")
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