#fdds

ahhh thank youuuu

sdffdfds

no literally that is so sweet

😭😭♥♥💕💕💕🥺🥺😭❤

literally this i me right now

Being fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to attend school on a full ride scholarship at a prestigious institution such as American University, with the support of the Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholars, a strong and select group of students I am both intimidated and proud to call my peers, mentors and friends, has given me a fantastic chance to reflect on what I stand for and what I want to do with this unique college experience. I remain in a constant state of awe at this fantastic opportunity, and it forces me to question what it is that I accomplished to place myself in a position to represent Frederick Douglass by being a recipient of a scholarship dedicated to him, his work, and his values.

In my high school career, I was a member of Mestizo Arts and Activism (MAA), a leadership and think-tank group that prepares youth to conduct research on issues affecting the predominantly Latino/a communities of Salt Lake City. Since joining MAA three years ago, I have assisted in the maintenance of a website engineered to inform undocumented students about their options for applying to college, written for a Chicano/a community newspaper surrounding issues of systemic racism, and given numerous presentations on a variety of social justice issues.

None of these projects have come without dedication to the innovative ideas and creative process and are often infuriating and frustrating. This work, while difficult at times, has shaped a sense of purpose within me, a burning passion, which is only enflamed further by obstacles, that makes me want to be known as someone who fought tirelessly to give back to his community and had an impact, whether that impact is big or small. Through my collaborations with my peers and my community members, I learned to acknowledge the ways I am privileged as a U.S born, light-skinned son of college-educated and professional parents. I had to build bonds of solidarity across the differences and similarities with students who share my racial identity but also have different levels of privileges and disadvantages in terms of socioeconomic status. The critical awareness, knowledge, and experience that I gained each week from continually self-reflecting, have had a profound impact on my character. Beyond that, I worked to affect the lives of many students by sharing my own story, spreading knowledge and presenting the MAA model of teaching through multimedia productions.

This work has inspired me to continue engage with kids from marginalized communities, in order to help them understand what challenges they face and how they can do something to better themselves. It is the greatest hope of many of the mentors that we will reach a point where MAA can be integrated an official classroom, and eventually, in the distant future, an entire school. As someone who grew into his own under the guidance of this rather unique teaching model, and as someone who helped shape it in my later years, these goals of projecting the MAA model on to a larger scale are extremely important to me. Therefore, I hope to continue with work similar to that of MAA throughout the rest of my life, working in my community to fight issues of systematic injustice and empowering young adults to take charge of issues that are personal to them. Ultimately, I hope to empower them to give back, further the community that has given so much to them and to me.

It is my desire to be remembered as someone who strived to give back to the community that built me up, based on the values that MAA instilled within me. I want to be remembered as someone who made a difference and actually impacted the lives of youth in my community, just like the projects that I worked on in MAA, but on a larger scale. I want my name to be synonymous with “role model,” “community leader,” and “critical problem solver.” All of these skills had were seeded in my experience within MAA, and, it is my sincere hope that with the values of Frederick Douglass guiding me, I can grow these skills so that I can leave that legacy. I am also convinced that without MAA, I would not have been prepared to receive this scholarship nor would I have any sense of confidence in working in a program that bears the name of Frederick Douglass.

        I firmly believe that no matter how advanced humanity progresses in realms of technology, philosophy, society and all of the many other facets we hold dearly, our work and efforts will always be undermined by our lack of awareness and empathy for others. When I was young, I did not always see life in such a selfless way, but was rather consumed with living in a world where I was the main subject. But in 2012, my life was forever changed; I was invited to go to Uganda. Many would describe a summer trip to Africa as one filled with excitement and adventure, but I am sadly not among that group. My visit to Uganda was nothing short of nightmarish. Witnessing hundreds of individuals helpless to the suffering of HIV/AIDS, mourning mothers who hovered over lifeless infants in their arms, and being berated by crowds of street- orphans who cried for someone to feed them were a few of the many things that haunted me while in Uganda. Why hadn’t anyone told me this side of the story before? I could not understand how one could travel to such a beautiful place and see such unspeakable pain, but only remark on the beauty.

         When I returned home from Uganda, I had decided that I was not to be one of those people. I began valiantly searching for a cause to support or a fight to join, but I soon realized that I needed to be the initiator of the change I now desired more than anything to see. From this place of passion, Building Hope Project was created. Building Hope Project is an organization and student sponsorship that sends disadvantaged youth in Uganda to Primary School, the biggest stop-out portion of the Ugandan education system. Building Hope Project ensures that each sponsored child not only attends but finishes their primary education debt-free: tuition, uniform, school materials, and meal fees are all covered within the sponsorship package. We currently sponsor over 45 school children each year, and at the end of our last academic year, Building Hope Project successfully graduated 12 students who are all pursuing further education. These youth represent the most marginalized students in their school and their communities. Many of them are orphans who are living without both of their parents, and some are even a part of the HIV/AIDS community. Without Building Hope Project, these youth would be unable to afford the fees required for their schooling and would be subjected to the brutal survival practices of the street community: such as prostitution, drug involvement, gang violence, and human trafficking. Building Hope Project empowers youth with seemingly insurmountable circumstances to aspire and ultimately achieve greatness.

         Too often people tend to use the word “dream” to describe their feelings toward whatever it may be that they want. But to see a world completely free of poverty and injustice, I must fuel my goals with a more active approach to change. The only dreams that have ever changed the world are the ones that refused to stay a dream. I believe that Building Hope Project will only be the gateway to what will be accomplished through my life for the world. I will use my life to radically change the disposition of our world’s developing countries; specifically in the areas of youth intervention, mental health, and human rights law. I believe these three pinnacle areas are among the few that are often overlooked in the area of development and lead to many of the perpetual cycles that nations become engaged in. Instead of combating effects, I want to dismantle causes.  I want to bring restitution to the individuals and communities who have been oppressed by exploitive and subjugating institutions. I want to shift the paradigm of the “industry of development” by engaging impoverished groups to not be wealth-pursuers, but wealth producers. When that becomes accomplished, people can be efficient in a way that is inevitably sustainable.

My passion for the underserved began on one of my many trips to my homeland of Ethiopia. The summer after 7th grade, my birthday was coming up, and for once I simply could not think of something that I really wanted. A Nintendo Wii sounded nice, but for some reason the fact that it was a “want” and not a “need” deeply weighed on me. With that in mind, I began to think of a creative way in which to spend my birthday money. My family was traveling to Ethiopia and I resolved to cash out the money that would have gone towards the Wii and simply give it to those that were needy in Ethiopia. At first, I was simply content with the impact I had on those I gave to in Ethiopia, but as I reflect on it now, I realize that this impromptu service to the underprivileged was the first event towards me understanding my future career path. Looking at it now, it is not the money that made all the difference to the needy I met; it was the emotional connection –that someone completely random was willing and eager to help them. I relish that feeling, and my drive to help the underprivileged stems from the deep bond I hope to develop with those I impact.  It is this same feeling that led me to volunteer with LIFT-DC during the spring semester of my Freshman year, as I was able to work with Ethiopian immigrants in the DC area, as they transitioned into life in the United States. I can vividly remember the relief on their faces when they realized that they could speak to me in their native tongue of Amharic, as they would no longer have to struggle to describe what it was that they truly needed help with. I feel blessed to have had these opportunities and am excited to continue my career in public service as I move forward.

  As I grew older I began to focus my career path, and I now realize that the best way for me to make a sustainable difference in marginalized communities is through the realm of business. I am currently majoring in Finance and hope to pair that with a specialization in International Development as well, so that I am best suited to tackle the issues prevalent in marginalized communities. My dream is to become a successful investor, and hopefully develop sustainable businesses in underdeveloped areas. I also have an interest in entrepreneurship and would love to establish organizations that put people in the poorest of communities to work, helping them, and in turn growing their local economy. My passion for business is only rivaled by one thing—sports. While many see the glitz and glamour of sports as a pathway towards a lavish lifestyle, I see it also as being an amazing platform to advocate for some of the biggest issues worldwide. If I were able to combine my passion for sports and utilize its amazing platform to bring attention to important causes in the poorest of communities, I would have achieved my ultimate dream. To this end, I will welcome and work towards possibly working for a professional sports franchise or league headquarters in the hopes of having a larger, more meaningful impact on communities that let alone play sports, do no even have the bare necessities to survive.