Reflections From a College Graduate

Everyone says "college is the best 4 years of your life." My usual response has been, "well I hope not! I want some better years to look forward to!" But the truth is these past 4 (and a half) years have been the best years of my life thus far.

Through studying abroad twice (once on a service learning program in Santiago, Dominican Republic and once on a direct-enroll business program in Lima, Peru), through helping start a student organization back on campus, and through earning multiple undergraduate degrees, I have realized how many great opportunities I have been presented with in my life. I want to thank everyone in my family, Net Impact, Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity Inc., and everyone in Carlson (especially my advisors Laurie and Mackenzie and bosses Kevin, Lizzy, Tasia and Brooke). I love and will miss you all as I start my life abroad.

I have left college truly inspired to seek ways in which to make our world a better place. There are huge disparities between the rich and poor in our world, which is especially true for the Dominican Republic, where I plan to begin my journey. In the DR, the poorest 50% of the population receives less than 20% of GNP while the richest 10% enjoy almost 40% of national income (CIA 2009). This is a country in which 44% of the population lives under the poverty line; 16% lives in extreme poverty, referring to households who cannot afford even the most basic necessities including food, clothes, medicine and shelter, or in more definitive terms it refers to households earning per capita less than $2 USD per day (United Nations Development Programme 2008). The service-learning study abroad program that I will be working for actively works to confront these realities and develop communities in a self-sufficient and sustainable way.

I invite you all to follow me along my path into the "real world" that college students everywhere look forward to experiencing. I am sure this path will be filled with challenges at times, but I hope to share my wild adventures with you as I seek to find meaning in our ever-growing and changing world.