Student. |
Swimmer. |
Seamstress. |
My Worldview
I am a student-swimmer-seamstress whose worldview stems from my personality and early experiences from my family. My parents emphasized learning, kindness, gratitude, and modesty as they raised me but also support me in my own personal exploration. My worldview is centered around three core features of my personality: my perseverance, dedication to service, and a love for learning. These core values have guided me to be a triple threat as a student-swimmer-seamstress. Academics is where my innate curiosity has the space to delve and seek answers. Swimming is an outlet where I can intensely focus on training and technique to improve my performance and developed my skills in teamwork. Finally, creating costumes for theater is where my creativity shines through. I believe that being skilled in a variety of arenas has made me a much more balanced person. It has also introduced me to many different types of people with a wide spectrum of life experiences and perspectives, and I am a better person from getting to know them.
Perseverance is my strongest personality trait. When I am committed to something, I will take all steps necessary to succeed, proven in my 4am swim practices throughout high school. I have learned to accept feedback from others to work it into my projects. When something does not work, I tinker with it until I find a solution. This can be demonstrated in my passion for creating escape rooms. Building escape rooms requires intricate and thoughtful planning to choreograph the flow of the clues and problems followed by multiple tests in order to gauge puzzle’s difficulty to ensure that the experience was challenging but ultimately fair, solvable, and fun. Giving up is not an option for me, but I am not stubborn. If I can’t find the solution then I will seek out help to ensure that the job gets done well. Kindness and a penchant for service are major facets of my personality. My parents instilled in me the importance of being kind and serving others. I was heartbroken by the anxiety I saw in my family and friends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so in response I sewed over four hundred reusable face masks this summer and gave them away to people in my community who needed them for their families. I organized my college swim team’s fall charity event in partnership with my favorite charity, Operation Christmas Child, which sends shoeboxes stuffed with presents and hygienic items to children in need across the globe. I am a servant leader at heart, and the way that I show my love and appreciation to others is through little acts of service, such as vacuuming, baking treats, or just throwing fun surprises for my friends. Some believe being kind can make a person too trusting; however, I am not naïve and life experience has taught me the practicality of making quick judgements about people. Some believe that this can be a negative attribute; however, I have found that it can help to size a person up and make quick decisions about how to productively interact with them. My love of learning has only increased as I have grown up. As a child I could spend hours exploring the woods, coming up with increasingly imaginative adventures for my dolls, and poking my nose around so much to earn the nickname ‘nosey-little otter’ from my parents. My innate curiosity, that refuses to be satisfied is the reason I become so interested in a variety of subjects, and once I know one fact, I must learn them all. For instance, in fourth grade I read “Someone Named Eva” a historical fiction book about a young Czech girl who is kidnapped by the Nazis, due to her Aryan features, and forced through the Germanization process. This book sparked my confusion over why this would happen and has contributed to the books I have been drawn to today and this culminated in my senior research paper on the topic of mass kidnapping campaigns within genocide, with my main case study on the Nazis kidnapping and Germanization of children from the Eastern occupied territories. Between my compassion and interest in problem-solving, I have become engrossed in the phenomena of climate refugees, what I believe will become one of the greatest transnational security issues of my generation. I was shocked in January 2020, when the UN ruled against Ioane Teitiota and consequently allowing states to be exempt from granting asylum to climate refugees and thereby ignoring their responsibility to protect duty. Therefore, last spring on Earth Day, I co-led a ‘teach-in’ about the plight of climate refugees in what I hope was just the first of my contributions researching the interconnections between violence and lack of sustainability. I plan to continue my research and advocating for their recognized status throughout graduate school. My worldview has driven my past actions and greatly influence my future plans. I know that I want to be a public servant and make my country a better and more secure place. In order to do this, I will utilize my skills of perseverance, creative problem-solving, public service, and my love of learning in order to research and analyze transnational security issues to better inform decision-makers to make the world a safe and sustainable place. |
Check out my Resume and LinkedIn for more information:
littlepage_resume.pdf |
Student. |
Swimmer. |
Seamstress. |