“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” Ranier Maria Rilke
Reflecting on my time here at the University of Washington, I’ve realized that I was fortunate enough when I was a freshman to know that I wanted to study international relations and deepen my understanding of increasing political, economic, and social linkages between countries in today’s globalizing world. Therefore, much of my time here at the UW has been spent reaffirming this interest in international studies and enriching my student experience in Seattle by working as an intern with several non-profit organizations and research institutions. I’ve become someone who is confident in their interests and knowledge as the direct result of the transformative experiences I’ve had while attending the University of Washington. I’ve come a long way, especially when I reflect on my freshman self and feeling like a little girl in business clothes, teetering in high-heels.
I certainly wasn't always this sure of myself. As someone from a small, rural town, I've been more globally aware at the University of Washington than I've ever been in my life. I'm continually challenged by my professors and my peers. It's been said that a mind broadened by new experiences and knowledge cannot return to its former dimensions, which I’ve found to be true in that I've recognized a considerable amount of growth in myself from freshman to senior year, especially in reflecting on my professional experience. I've had the opportunity to intern for Sahar Education International, a non-profit focusing on improving programs for female education in Afghanistan. I've attend Sahar’s board meetings and was able to get insight into the inner-workings of a non-profit that operates in Afghanistan and observe its multifaceted strategies for development and for bringing quality education to more girls in the region. I was responsible for creating, editing, and publishing website content and newsletters for Ayni, as well as grant writing and research, and was motivated by the enormous impact of these activities. I’ve also worked as a news editor intern for The Borgen Project, a Seattle non-profit focusing on making aid a focus of U.S. foreign policy and garnering congressional support for poverty-reduction legislation. Working with these non-profits allowed me to realize that not only did I want to work in international development, but I also wanted to get experience in working on the ground and implementing development programs which incorporate and value local knowledge.
My ability to bridge the academic and professional worlds as an undergraduate has defined my university experience. Although I'm not sure of where I'll be working after graduation, let alone what country I'll be living in, I'm certain of my interests and confident in the skills I've acquired in school and in work. So for now, I'm going to live the questions.
I certainly wasn't always this sure of myself. As someone from a small, rural town, I've been more globally aware at the University of Washington than I've ever been in my life. I'm continually challenged by my professors and my peers. It's been said that a mind broadened by new experiences and knowledge cannot return to its former dimensions, which I’ve found to be true in that I've recognized a considerable amount of growth in myself from freshman to senior year, especially in reflecting on my professional experience. I've had the opportunity to intern for Sahar Education International, a non-profit focusing on improving programs for female education in Afghanistan. I've attend Sahar’s board meetings and was able to get insight into the inner-workings of a non-profit that operates in Afghanistan and observe its multifaceted strategies for development and for bringing quality education to more girls in the region. I was responsible for creating, editing, and publishing website content and newsletters for Ayni, as well as grant writing and research, and was motivated by the enormous impact of these activities. I’ve also worked as a news editor intern for The Borgen Project, a Seattle non-profit focusing on making aid a focus of U.S. foreign policy and garnering congressional support for poverty-reduction legislation. Working with these non-profits allowed me to realize that not only did I want to work in international development, but I also wanted to get experience in working on the ground and implementing development programs which incorporate and value local knowledge.
My ability to bridge the academic and professional worlds as an undergraduate has defined my university experience. Although I'm not sure of where I'll be working after graduation, let alone what country I'll be living in, I'm certain of my interests and confident in the skills I've acquired in school and in work. So for now, I'm going to live the questions.