My academic, personal and professional experiences have solidified my commitment to public service.  I am a community minded citizen who wants to make a positive change in the world. Because I am a junior, my goal is to plan and lead a Global Brigade in the next school year.  After completing one and participating on my second this upcoming January, I feel that my time and energy spent in actually organizing and leading a future brigade will be beyond rewarding and a great contribution of global citizenship.  Since my UNIV 292 class has been so fortunate to have one of the founders of Global Brigades, Shital Vora, come speak to our class, I have been deeply inspired to consider a career in philanthropy.  Over the course of my international marketing class, I have learned that in today’s world, it is very possible to make money and do good at the same time.  Shital shared with the class how she and the two other founders of global brigades gave up their careers to devote the time and effort needed to launch Global Brigades into the successful and rising organization it is today.  She also explained that her husband is an attorney and provides legal counsel and representation for Global Brigades. This resonated with me because my dream is to go to law school and use my privilege of a higher education to give back to the organization I fell in love with as an undergrad – Global Brigades.

As a young professional, hopefully freshly graduated from law school, I would love to work for Global Brigades and organize even more legal brigades, extending them to countries other than Africa, Honduras, and Panama.  My passion lays in the legal field, just as much as it lays in service for human rights and social justice.  Being able to achieve these endeavors is most definitely possible and is what motivates me to successfully finish my academics and be able to do what I love. Global Brigades has armed me with a wealth of insights into other cultures, has better rounded me as an individual and has solidified my commitment to public service for the rest of my adult life, and for that I am so grateful.