Ebola Personal Statement

“No.” “No.” “No.” This was the crushingly repetitive answer I got from my mom every time I tried persuading her to let me travel to Africa. This desire to experience Africa all began at the age of 15, my Sophomore year of High School, when I began research on education in Kenya for my Girl Scout Gold Award Project (only 5% of eligible Girl Scouts achieve this level). This award encompassed over 100 hours of research, a community and international action project, and lots of long nights. The disappointing refusals from my mom, fueled by worries of Ebola and fear of the changing political climate, only motivated me to persevere. Every year since, I have been determined to change my mom’s answer so that I could pursue my dream. Of course, college has changed her stance on my autonomy and through my demonstrated passion for involvement with institutions in Africa, I’ve finally convinced her. I have continued this journey of learning about the cultural differences of South African society in my classes here at Union. I

This was for my ‘Introduction to Global Politics’ class, taught by Professor Tom Lobe. While at the time this was daunting and left me a bit frustrated with my professor, I have never walked away feeling so accomplished and driven to do more with what I’ve learned. This class as a whole gave me knowledge of spatial and cultural relations between every country, specifically those in Africa, which makes me more equipped to delve deeper into the topics that concern development in Cape Town. This most recent class is the finale to a series of learning throughout my life that has encouraged me down this path. When I think about how my experiences have prepared me for this type of internship, as well as my recently declared ID major in Political Science and Anthropology, in addition to a minor in Economics, this fellowship seems like it would be a perfect fit for