I Will be an Agent for Social Change
I arrived at Harvard eager for the world of experiences ahead. Yet as an Air Force Reserve Officer's Training Corp (ROTC) student, much of my academic world had been set up over the summer. My roommates poured over course guides, but my schedule was already laid out before me: math, economics, chemistry, Spanish and ROTC. My first college dilemma wasn't to find the right professor or class size, but to put together my uniform correctly. This being the case, I have had less time to stumble, but more time to focus on my other life choices.
Despite working on a thesis, taking social studies tutorials, attending four-hour long weekly drill practices, doing Physical Training at dawn, and holding
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Having immigrated to the United States from Trinidad as a young child, I have grown up aware of the economic and educational advantages Americans have over their foreign neighbors. I feel that the role of a public servant should not just end at our own borders. As a place for service, Trinidad not only links my cultural past, but serves as a bridge to my racial history. By organizing in a halfway house, I would have the chance to explore a long-term interest of mine: how men can take a more active role in dismantling the social pressures placed on women, bringing about a more balanced society.
ROTC has taught me to think on an international level, but so far my community service participation has been purely local. Volunteering in Trinidad will help me determine whether I can be an agent of social change outside of my own community-a necessary perspective before I start military service. After four years of studying "theory" about society, I want a chance to implement what I have learned. Working as a grassroots activist, I will get a chance to contemplate the issues involved with international service. As an outsider to Trinidad and a male in a home for battered women, I will need to be mindful of the barriers organizers face each day.
Trinidad will also help me connect to my cultural past. Growing up
I remember once hearing: “To reach the impossible you just have to try a little harder”. Sometimes I feel like I don’t try my hardest, therefore I don’t get the results I want. I’m in high school right now as a junior, meaning that the decisions I make from now on are crucial and will affect my future. A big step to accomplish what I want to do when I grow up, is planning for what I will do after I graduate from high school and how I’m going to surpass the obstacles that will be presented to me. Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), home of the blue beards, is reputed for being a “Military-Friendly College”. (DMACC) It will provide me with the opportunity to reach my dream of becoming a teacher and transferring my knowledge to the next
Community service, one of the several pillars outlined by the National Honors Society (NHS), is defined as the desire to work and serve the community in order to improve the conditions for the citizens who dwell in it. Most importantly, those who uphold those standards do so without the need of money, or recognition; they are simply intrinsically motivated to make the world a better place. It wasn’t until I volunteered at an event hosted by the Jubilee Center that I learned the true meaning of community service and charity.
As poverty, terrorism, hunger, and economic crises escalate, I believe it is essential for me as a student to possess a deep human desire to contribute to my school, community, and ultimately, the world. Because of my profound attributes, I am able to promote leadership, develop character, and create enthusiasm for academic excellence. I was chosen as a candidate to display academic prestige but I perceive it as an opportunity to offer my exemplary efforts of scholarship, leadership, service and
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul motivated by love.”
I am energized by lively discussion, value diversity of opinion, and am one who will always work hard to ensure we accomplish our goal. I have had the opportunity to serve as a board member for several organizations at Georgetown, have led fundraising efforts that have totaled more than $150,000, have planned large-scale events and conferences for Oxfam America and Georgetown Residential Life, and have overseen budgetary appropriations for several clubs as President of the Georgetown University InterHall Council. During my two years as a Resident Assistant, I prided myself on planning activities that appealed to residents from a variety of backgrounds, and I worked tirelessly to build communities where everyone felt included and supported. More recently, I became one of 40 SERVE Leaders at Fannie Mae working together to plan and organize company-wide volunteer opportunities, brainstorm and direct fundraising for the “Help the Homeless” campaign, and partner with local non-profit organizations to create strong relations in and with the communities we serve. I thrive in dynamic, consensus-driven environments that leverage my desire to solve problems and reshape perspectives, and my passion is epitomized in empowering and working closely with others. I hope to have the opportunity to bring this same dedication
It has always been my hope to attend a highly respected university and get the best education possible, so I have spent most of my academic career working to make myself stand out amongst the hundreds of other candidates. Along with being a cadet in the JROTC program and playing on a sports, I have also done a number of other academic and physically challenging extracurricular activities throughout my four years of High School. Each of these clubs, events, and opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and have brought me closer to my lifetime goals.
Similarly to every motivated individual, I tend to wonder how my actions will impact the world. Fortunately, the Norbert O. Schedler Honors College’s principal characteristic is the ability to mold students into catalysts of “socially responsible change.” Leadership, scholarship, citizenship, and self-authorship act as the foremost foundations of advancement, and provide a unique path for students to serve locally, nationally, and globally. All foundations stem from the college’s values of academic and personal excellence, inquiry and exploration, integrity and social responsibility, diversity and inclusion, and interdisciplinary understanding.
Not only will I be able to study social justice in the classroom, but I will have many chances to apply what I have learned to my surroundings. However to contribute to a community, you cannot work alone. Luckily, being a student at Lang will surround me with like-minded individuals who share my growing interest in social justice. I will become enlightened in issues obstructing social justice in class, and other opportunities will enable me to participate in activism with my peers. The New School has many student organized groups that allow real-world application of skills learned in the classroom. Not only will this give me experience in the field I study, but it will fuel my passion for the content I will learn at Lang even more. As I contribute to society through The New School’s opportunities as a student, I will gain experience in the “real world”, allowing me to be most productive with the education I receive when I graduate. The change I dream of making can ultimately be made possible through the experience offered at The New
I am interested in working with the Disciplinary Review Committee, because I am interested in social justice based off actions. I believe avery action should have a fair consequence. I want to spend my time helping others, by finding out the facts and true stories. I think being on the Disciplinary Review Committee would also expand my own knowledge on social justice, and provide me with different experiences and perspectives on discipline, and what it is.
Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great inspiration to me, my mother, Stephanie Sacks, about her experience in college. She went to Evergreen State College for her baccalaureate degree. She enjoyed the vast majority of the classes she took; “All of Evergreen was sort of an extracurricular.”, she said. The one she didn’t like was a biology class. “I absolutely hated that class.”, she remembered. The room was so warm, and the lectures so boring, that she fell asleep on multiple occasions. “Thank god I didn’t go to a regular college, because I would have absolutely hated it,” She chuckled. “I hated studying things I had no interest in.” Her favorite part of college was getting to pick which classes she took, which she said, “...was
As a second year student at the University of Texas, I have encountered many circumstances than I have both grown from. When you are first dropped into the large pond of a university, you are constantly warned to take your academics seriously, because a college course load is much more rigorous than high school. However, I feel that you are not warned of one important fact that I had to learn the hard way.
I can trace every one of my passions, interests, and life adventures back to my desire to be an inherently good inhabitant of this planet. When so many things are despairing in so many places, I want to counter them in any way possible. This drive is intrinsic to my identity. I see college as an opportunity to cause a positive effect on much more of the world than I have been able to reach as a Pennsylvanian high school student. A difference does not always have to be on a global scale, but rather can be made through an accumulation of smiles and days brightened. I have always done my best to adhere to that philosophy. Should I be admitted to Johns Hopkins, I will strive to expand this quest even further. I want to be a part of the many organizations at JHU that are dedicated to improving life at the university, in our nation, and abroad, and hopefully even to start my own group, dedicated to small, kindhearted gestures.
Communities are built when individuals share their time, their interests, and their knowledge willingly with no expectation of reward. Military families understand the enormous value of establishing a network of support, building community outreach, and establishing resource programs both in the United States and abroad; much of this work is done through volunteers. I intend to continue to be deeply involved in my community as a volunteer and a student mentor.
For everything stolen, place the blame onto another. The tragedy that continues will surely cease, the moment light is found. Social justice is admittedly one of my greatest passions. As one of my primary interests, I have a strong passion for denouncing evil and allowing justice to conquer. I hope that through the actions I make now, and will continue to make, what I do will be able to change the world we have. Regardless, of whether it is a minor or major change, I truly hope my decisions will be able to provide a sense of relief, for even one person. I want to be known as a person who served others; as someone who loved the idea of peace so much, they lent their hand out to anyone who required assistance. The people I am given the opportunity
At the beginning of this course I wasn’t sure what was meant by social responsibility and civic engagement. During this course I realized the meaning of both and the responsibilities that both imply. A definition of social responsibility that I found particularly poignant and concise comes from Entrepreneur Magazine, “Acting with concern and sensitivity, aware of the impact of your actions on others, particularly the disadvantaged” (Entrepreneur Magazine.com). Social responsibility can be as simple as paying your taxes or recycling your glass bottles. Social responsibility can be as complex as finding solutions to global warming or hunger in Africa. You can be personally socially responsible or you can be socially