By Monica Chan, ’17 (Mechanical Engineering; International Relations (minor))
Time: June 2015. Place: Geneva, Switzerland.
Finally, I had arrived for my long-awaited summer internship with the Shelter and Settlement Section of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
During my 9-week internship, I was taken on board several projects. The most interesting project I was involved in used the UNHCR’s newly developed “Master Plan” concept. The “Master Plan” aims to promote holistic and comprehensive design and development of settlements. My specific project was to develop a plot of land (1500 hectares) in Kenya not only to build a new refugee camp, but also to work towards a more sustainable solution for interaction between the refugee and host communities. I started the first steps by conducting research on the incoming refugee population, tracing out land contours, and studying the county government’s Integrated Development Plan. Drawing multiple drafts of camp designs was a long and iterative process, but essential to developing a settlement that ensures the safety and dignity of refugees.
This summer internship allowed me to merge my three passions – engineering, global affairs and public service. Working with such a qualified, dedicated team at an international humanitarian aid organization has definitely motivated me to educate people on and off campus about refugee crises and to be a more strategic advocate for human rights.
CS+Social Good group meeting
By Vicki Niu, ‘18 (Computer Science)
Coming to Stanford, I had big dreams. My conviction was to bring my passion for social change to the tech world of Silicon Valley. However, the glamour and pressure of the tech bubble slowly siphoned that conviction out of me. Over the course of fall quarter, I spent my time recruiting at big tech companies and organizing events that only helped those already advantaged by Silicon Valley’s power structure.
I was disappointed in myself, but motivated to change the culture and pressures that led me astray. Lawrence Murata, ’17; Manu Chopra, ’17; Edward Wang, ’17; and I started CS+Social Good in January 2015 to form a community that would hold each other accountable for driving technology towards social impact. We’ve organized mixers bringing hundreds of people together, a project-based class engaging students in building web technologies for social good, workshops, speaker events, and longer initiatives aimed at empowering people. The people I know from CS+Social Good inspire me every day to learn more, work harder, and discover more ways to live out social impact. I’m more excited than ever about the potential for tech to drive change, and I can’t wait to see what lies down that path.
By Lynne Zummo, MA ’15 (Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education in Science Education)
Their big smiles and enthusiastic shouts say it all—kids love learning at NatureBridge. From my first observation of students at the Golden Gate campus, which overlooks Rodeo Beach and the steep cliffs of the Marin Headlands, I knew that NatureBridge was a special place. Wandering along the ocean and through densely forested groves, children here are happy and excited to learn about the natural world. One hope of NatureBridge is that this enthusiasm for nature persists beyond the residential experience, as students return to classrooms.
Having taught science, I endeavored to work with NatureBridge to develop a standards-based curriculum that could be given to schools to implement in the classroom, following field trips. Collaborating with the staff at NatureBridge, as well as local teachers, I developed a curriculum focused on connecting students’ NatureBridge experience to their daily lives. This interdisciplinary curriculum seeks to help students understand water issues in California through multiple academic lenses. Building on knowledge and experience gained during at NatureBridge, the curriculum helps students examine a relevant issue from many perspectives. We plan to pilot the curriculum next spring—I hope that it makes a meaningful contribution to both NatureBridge and local students.
Arnelle (third from left) with her Wishbone colleagues
By Arnelle Ansong, ’18
I began noticing income disparity when I was a student at my middle school, which pulled students from cities and suburbs throughout the county. The realities of income disparity became even more obvious in high school, where students across the income bracket took classes together.
My interest in economic and educational inequity fed perfectly into my summer at Wishbone, an organization devoted to eliminating the opportunity gap. Wishbone helps low-income high school students find quality summer programs, empowers them to raise funds, and provides scholarships for unmet need.
To meet the needs of the organization’s rapid expansion, I collected information on existing programs in Wishbone’s Connecticut, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York regions. After gathering this network of programs, I updated Wishbone’s online database so that more students can access programs that suit them.
A visit to an engineering camp in San Francisco affirmed for me the significance of my work. There I met Jenny, who had almost no experience with electronics. During her summer, however, she learned enough to create solar-powered speakers!
Quality summer programs like these give students the opportunity to develop their passions. Everyone deserves access, and this summer gave me the space to explore and expand on my own passions.
Gillie (in green) with some of her students
By Gillie Collins,’15 (English, International Relations)
The summer after my freshman year, I found myself crushed into a taxi with five other people, heading to my first day of work in Congotown, Liberia. That morning, it rained in torrents, and the roadside markets were eerily empty: the plantains packed up, the vendors hiding under umbrellas. Approaching the Hope Community Center, I worried that no one would turn up for the workshop.
I was wrong. By 10 AM, fifteen girls with damp clothes had trickled into the classroom. As a group, we decided on a name for our collective, and I wrote it on the chalkboard: “Story Society.”
As a Haas Fellow, I spent the summer facilitating the “Story Society,” a writing and reading program for Liberian girls ages 14-19. Using novels to spark group discussions, individual presentations, and creative writing exercises, we kept daily journals and wrote poetry as a group.
At the close of the program, the girls performed their original stories for their friends and family. Again, the clouds burst, the sky emptied itself — but the Hope Community Center filled to capacity. The girls clapped loudly for each other.
Catherine also wrote for the Stanford Daily throughout her time at Stanford.
By Catherine Zaw, ’15 (Biology, Linguistics)
When I signed up to volunteer for a homeless women’s shelter in the winter of 2013, I anticipated physical work moving mattresses and sleepless nights worrying about the safety of the shelter. What I didn’t expect was the bonds I would form with some of the residents.
Annie had been a waitress in a traditional Italian restaurant before it was replaced by a fast food chain. “I can name all the types of pasta,” she told me. She drew pasta shapes on a scrap of napkin. “The conchiglie is my favorite. It’s like a conch shell. My grandmother used to make it all the time.”
Annie taught me everything she knew after a lifetime working with pasta. In turn, I told her about how the words macaroni, macaroon, and macaron have the same etymological heritage, but are completely different foods now. We traded knowledge and life experiences, and after a whole winter, I was sad to see our shelter time come to an end.
Annie wasn’t the only woman with a story at the shelter. Each visitor came in with her own experience, and the lesson I took was that there is a story in everyone, everything—and that all of these stories are important.
Van at SCVMC
By Van Tran, ’16 (English)
Not many people can say they’ve had the chance to meet a survivor of human trafficking and domestic violence. I still remember the day the paramedics brought Quy* into the emergency room. Her head was tender from where it been bashed, the skin around one eye an angry red that slowly bruised purple. But what I remember most is the blank look in her eyes as the staff at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) tried to figure out what language she spoke.
Our hospital doesn’t have in-house interpreters on weekend or overnight shifts. That’s where I come in as a volunteer interpreter from SCOPE, a hospital nonprofit that connects Stanford students with opportunities for public service. On some days, I’m the only Vietnamese speaker in the emergency department. By bridging linguistic and cultural barriers, I facilitate healthcare delivery for patients like Quy.
In my three years with SCOPE, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share in the experience of SCVMC patients, many of whom come from underserved communities. In the process of working with these patients to convey their story, I discover new facets of my cultural heritage and emerge reinvigorated in my dedication to public service.
*Alias used to protect patient’s privacy.
By Ritika Dutta, ’15 (Biology)
In my sophomore year, I worked with two middle school students on a project about bacteria. Neither of the girls seemed very interested in the material and both were constantly distracted. In an effort to make the project fun for them and engage them, I suggested that our project be to take bacteria from both girls’ and boys’ backpacks and compare the types and amount of bacteria in each. Immediately, the girls were excited and enthusiastic – they couldn’t wait to figure out whether boys or girls were “dirtier!”
The project was extremely effective in teaching essential scientific concepts, such as how to develop a hypothesis, design an experiment, and analyze data. As I watched the girls proudly and confidently present the project on the last day, I felt immensely proud at their progress – both girls had told me they were extremely shy and had never been able to speak publicly, but after a lot of practice and confidence-building, they did an amazing job and were able to overcome their fears. I hope that the experience helped them realize that science can be fun and interesting and opened the door for future exploration.
By Sammie Wills, ’16 (Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity)
As a low-income, queer, mixed-race Pilipina person, I had never been in a space that affirmed all of my identities before I joined the Asian Pacific Island Equality–Northern California organization (APIENC). Growing up, I was scared. I was too scared to rely on others, too scared to share parts of myself, and too scared to think that I may ever be enough. Finding a family at APIENC allowed me the space to move beyond these fears, and trust that the people around me would be there to support the amazing work that we need to do. When I walked into work at APIENC, it was the first time I was able to feel whole and authentic in every part of who I am.
The major highlight of that work, for me, is the Dragon Fruit Project, an inter-generational oral history project that documents the stories of LGBTQ Asian Pacific Islander Activists from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. By uplifting our queer API community histories, we’re breaking through the silence that is a byproduct of systematic and institutionalized oppression. When we engage with this work as interviewers, transcribers, archivists, and artists, we are creating inter-generational connections that ground us in an empowering and revolutionary historical narrative.
Check out the video of Sammie talking about the Dragon Fruit Project.
By Apurva Khedagi, ’15 (Human Biology)
During my Haas Center fellowship I worked alongside the NGO Sneha in the Kandivali slums, leading group meetings on preventable diseases. Together with the Kandivali women, we developed simple solutions.
As I helped women make hairpins and played with their babies, I grew close to them. Due to these relationships, my fellowship’s goals were easier to accomplish. We discussed ways to take utmost advantage of their current health care resources and devised measures they could implement to address preventable diseases. We displayed those innovative, simple solutions on posters across the slum alleys. I saw that if given the chance, all individuals possess power to take responsibility for their own health.
My relationships with the women and my drive to remedy malnutrition led me to return to Mumbai this year to tackle this issue through a research intervention project, the UAR Senior Synthesis. Now, as I pursue a career in medicine, I cannot wait to continue on this learning journey.
