hands in the dirt with the people

Seeking to create the just and sustainable world I envision, I live my life through compassionate actions that contribute to the evolution of global consciousness.

Every morning I wake up, pour myself a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and I read the insightful bumper sticker I have pasted to my refrigerator that says, “Compassion is the radicalism of our time. ~The Dalai Lama” I believe that if I have been given a higher purpose in life then it must be through compassion. Through my compassion, I love everything and everyone. I love everything because I believe love is healing, love is freedom, and love is the path to higher consciousness. To love fully is to be self-less, which I believe is the way to enlightenment. Although it can be challenging at times, I seek to understand and have compassion for all beings on the planet. In my quest to understand, I have gained an incredible love of learning – I love learning about people and the planet so that I can integrate all of my knowledge into a network of people finding solutions to the world’s greatest problems. I recently graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in International Environment and Development. The next step on my journey will take me to The University for Peace, a school chartered by the United Nations, in Costa Rica to earn a Master’s Degree in Environmental Security and Peace. Aside from school, I always try to remember that each one of my actions and thoughts has a profound effect, so I am conscious to fill each of my actions and thoughts with endless love.

My ideal job is one in which I am working for the benefit of humanity on the planet, with my hands in the dirt with the people. My education has shown me the integral connection between the environment in which people live and the quality of their livelihoods, and so my ideal job is to work with the people to fight for the environment. In so many parts of the world, and even in the United States, environmental degradation (often at the hands of the powerful elite) leads to social tension and violence, and sometimes threatens the very existence of the people. Indigenous communities across the world are posed with threats such as poisoned drinking water, the disappearance of the ecosystems that provide them with food and medicine, desertification of their farmlands etc. My dream is to travel the world learning about these situations, helping to find solutions, and using the privilege I have been given in my life to fight on the behalf of these communities. However, I do not believe in fighting FOR them, but rather, WITH them. Indeed, as long as any community in the world is oppressed, I too shall remain oppressed. With the degree I will earn from the University for Peace I am planning to learn exactly how I can use my education to be an advocate for people around the world through choices I make in my daily life, as well as working directly with them for our collective liberation.

these are my answers to the scholarship questions. please feel free to leave feedback for me :)

paz y justicia,