I’m not the same person today as I was when I started this fellowship. From a vocational, spiritual, and personal perspective, I feel I have transformed and moved closer to discovering how I want to live and what I want to do with my life. Last winter when I was applying for this fellowship, I had recently gotten back to Santa Clara after studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and was craving another international experience. My parents got me addicted to travel at a young age, opening my eyes to places from Australia to Iceland. I’d always enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and seeking new experiences. When I heard about this fellowship, I was captivated by its mission of educating the whole student through sending him/her abroad to work abroad with a social enterprise employing entrepreneurial methods for solving complex social issues. I saw this fellowship as a unique opportunity to combine my passion for working with marginalized communities with my academic background in anthropology and international business. Saying yes to its acceptance would take me all the way to India, and the experience I had there would go on to become yet another stepping stone in shaping who I am and directing my next steps.
Two Punjabi men making scarves on traditional wood looms (Photo Credit: Holly McKenna)
India was unlike any other place I had ever traveled to before. With around 1.25 billion people speaking several hundred languages, India is a “moving rainbow” full of bright colors and beauty that doesn’t need words to express itself. While I enjoyed seeing the “pretty side” of India, this fellowship also gave me access to conversing with workers in clothing factories that expressed the hardships and realities they faced in their day-to-day lives. Through hearing peoples’ stories and interacting with factory managers and workers, I discovered that in my future I want to work in an interpersonal setting that seeks to drive social impact. I came to appreciate how social enterprises, such as Good World Solutions (the company I worked with), address complex problems, like mitigating poor working conditions in clothing factories, with innovative solutions. While working with such a company is not easy and demands great adaptability, I found it very rewarding. I experienced deep satisfaction from engaging with people that were different than me and working alongside one another in creative ways to further benefit society. This experience stretched my thinking and made me realize the enjoyment I get from working in a foreign environment with people from entirely different backgrounds from my own. One of the key lessons I learned from both a vocational and personal perspective is how important it is to be optimistic and creative in turning nothing into something. The research my partner and I conducted in the field was constantly changing based upon what was feasible, but I feel we did a good job in turning these associated difficulties into opportunities. This fellowship has made me more adaptable and enhanced my ability to recognize opportunity. It also furthered my desire to spend a year or two after graduating to work abroad with a social enterprise. I’m at a time in my life where I want to take a risk and seek out an unconventional lifestyle. Through this experience I discovered the happiness that comes along with not always knowing what is coming next and living life on the edge.
The moving rainbow that is India (Photo Credit: Holly McKenna)
When I was about an hour outside of SFO flying back from India in mid August, I had a strange voice in my head telling me it would not be long before I was on another international flight bound for a project that would be more long term. I am not quite sure why I had this feeling, but I’ve learned from my travels that the more I go and become aware of the hurting world we live in, the more passion I have to get some skin in the game and do my part in helping and empowering others. I don’t necessarily feel burdened to do this, but I strive to do it out of my thankfulness for the opportunities I have had and my desire to help provide these kinds of opportunities for others. One certainly doesn’t need to go abroad to make an impact, but this is the calling that has been leading me through my life, and intend to follow it by working abroad for a year or two.
After doing this fellowship, I have now been to 40 countries across six continents. I have learned a lot in each of them, and I have also come to know how hard it is to come home. Miriam Adeney wrote about travel and engaging with people in the places you go: “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” I feel as though I’ve left parts of myself in Thailand, Rwanda, and now India, and while I have had a lot of experience transitioning home from these places, I have had a harder time getting accustomed to life in the States this time around. I have struggled with my identity and feelings of guilt as a result of what I saw in India, and while I know I ought to act as a good steward with the resources I have been blessed with to impact others, I still wrestle with accepting the differences between my world and theirs. My heart hurts when I reflect on all of the inanimate and material things I have and think back to the women I interacted with in India, some of whom are working in oppressive factories and living in abusive homes. Through this fellowship experience and others, I have realized that one of life’s best gifts is the capability of dreaming and pursuing anything you want to do. I’ve come to know that I am an anomaly. This possibility is not the reality for much of the world, and I want to commit myself to playing my part in providing people the opportunity to dream and pursue their passion. That’s my definition of empowerment, and that’s what I want for others.
This is the future of India: an empowered generation (Photo Credit: Holly McKenna)
I’ve learned from this fellowship how important it is to be an introspective person, and I’ve spent a lot of time this academic term in reflective solitude. I’ve dedicated a lot of time to surfing because when I get out on the ocean I become more reflective and think about who I want to be and how I want to live. I’m reminded of how important it is to live simply and love well. I have grown a lot in my faith the last nine months, more fully studying and reflecting on how Jesus loved others, and applying his teaching to how I can love the community around me. Prayer has been a central piece in figuring out what the next step looks like, and for the time being, I have my eyes and heart set on working in Latin America for the next year or two. I realized in India how much I miss conversing in a country’s local language, and I want to become fluent in Spanish. I’m not sure whom I will be working with or where it will be, but I have been pursuing people and organizations that place a significant emphasis on empowering people. I long to get back in an international environment where I can engage with and contribute to local communities.
I could not be more thankful to Keith Warner, Thane Kreiner, Spencer Arnold, Emile McAnany, and everyone else at Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society for providing me with this amazing fellowship experience. The things I have learned both about social entrepreneurship and myself have been priceless, and I’m excited to see what the future holds. I give much thanks to my family and friends as well for supporting me throughout this time and always. This experience has changed me for the better, and I highly recommend it to anyone who comes across it.