Second year transfer student at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. studying psychology. Spent my freshman year at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and originally from the San Francisco Peninsula, CA.
I first read R.J. Palacio's Wonder in fourth grade, and I remember feeling stunned by its raw portrayal of empathy, character, and companionate love. When I encountered it again at eighteen in my psychology seminar last semester, it ignited a new appreciation of children's literature and its power to shape identity. After one class, I met two of my classmates for coffee. For over two hours, we discussed reading Wonder again as young adults. We compared it to other children's and young adult classics we read amidst middle school drama, built a case for the overlooked importance of adults re-reading children's stories, and wondered whether our worldviews would be so connected without these shared experiences with literature as kids.
After that conversation, I began digging deeper into children's media and learning how kids are shaped by the stories they encounter every day. I learned about how children's literature evolved over time, how Disney attempted to rehabilitate Hans Cristian Andersen's dark fairytales, and how shows like Sesame Street and Blue's Clues teach children about the world.
To explore ways I could make a positive impact on children, I joined the U of M chapter of Letters of Love, an initiative that creates hand-made cards to provide emotional support to children battling serious illnesses. My involvement allowed me to creatively combine my interests in written and graphic communication with developmental psychology and impact the well-being of children across the world.
A single conversation with my classmates became a catalyst for the exhilaration of independent research as well as the opportunity to benefit others. But with just under a month left in school, I also realized that this conversation was one of a kind. Over the past year, I've rarely found students who share my desire to engage in intellectual conversation outside of the classroom.
Then I visited George Washington University. Passing through University Yard, campus buildings, and the streets of Foggy Bottom, I heard dynamic conversations all around me. It was clear that I was in a place where learning was not confined to lectures and homework, but instead deeply embedded in the culture of the community.
I want to participate in these conversations through GW's Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Organizational Science and Communication, and English, and I am equally energized by the prospect of sharing my interests with the larger GW community and learning from students passionate about their own interests. Whether joining The GW Local student life publication or GW TRAiLS leadership program, or immersing myself in the global impact hub that is Washington, D.C., I look forward to those engaging encounters. And it should come as no surprise that I look forward to standing in line at a Foggy Bottom coffee shop, awaiting the next spontaneous conversation and like-minded peers to share it with.
