EVSS Team 4 Global Justice

Brianna Pang, 18, Stanford University, Oakland, CA (Team Leader) - I hope to learn more about global issues as well as gain experience in nonprofit work. I hope to become a service leader through participation in this internship. I believe that this internship will be incredibly fruitful for me because I aspire to be a leader in public service someday.

What inspires me most to do community service is the smiles that I can put on people’s faces. My motto in life is Peace, Love, and Compassion, and I believe that the world can be changed positively simply through compassion for others. In other words, I want youth to feel the “fuzzy, warm feeling” you get after volunteering – and work towards a social good.

Currently, I am teaching English in small rural villages in Croatia, Romania, and China. I hope to use the 1000 dollar internship Scholarship towards the advancement of education, either through policy work, or simply supporting myself or another volunteer in the upcoming summer.

Rajeswari Ramanathan, 12, Irvington HS, Fremont, CA – Being a journalist, I’ve been through the pressure of scraping for information, finishing the piece on deadline, sitting through the edits and fixing them, yet finally the fruit that comes out in the end when I see your article written out in print, I feel accomplished. That is exactly what I hope to get out of the EV Service Scholar Internship. I want to work hard in writing about community service and about hopes for the betterment of future communities and this way, not only will I get a chance to publish my works but I will be able to reach out to the public community and make them understand the power of social service. I want to be part of such an exciting program to brush up and practice upon my writing skills. As a senior in college, I am starting to apply for various colleges and I am planning on doing journalism as one of my majors. By taking part in this internship, I will get exposure to various types of journalism including through blogging. In fact, during a time of stress and homework during school time, I get the chance to relax and buff up on my topics of interest. I will also be able to learn about various NGO or organizations and their role in making this world a better place.

Inspiring only comes from some sort of change, a positive difference. But what if that difference comes from myself? I’ve never looked up to anyone else as a role model when I have myself. I set goals and achieve them, and that is exactly what inspires me to look to the future with much hope. For example, I worked hard for three years in hopes to become the Editor-in-Chief of my journalism class at school and when I received that position, it was not only the happiness that thrilled me, but when I reflected upon why I received it, it made complete sense that it was because of my good writing and hard-work that got me the position. Nonetheless, the children I see everywhere who are in need of education or eschew education are the ones that aggravate me and force me to make a change for our community. As a middle-class family child, I receive the necessary education I need and ample supplies to suit my studies yet when I view other kids my age smoking on the streets or not having enough money to get an education, it saddens me. Thus, that spark of inspiration, made me initiate the Pencil Project, a service organization aimed at donating school supplies to children who are in need of them. When I able to help over 5,000 children receive education, I realized I am my own inspiration. What I succeed in today is what builds me up for tomorrow. I want to use the East Village program to publicize to the other teenagers in our community the power of service and what we can achieve in this world with community service for one another. By showing them what other teens are doing, we inspiring them today for a better tomorrow.

If I do become an intern, I want to use the money for something that will help children’s education. After all, children are the ones that are going to lead tomorrow so if we nurture their education to the best today, tomorrow will shine. I want to donate the $1,000 to The Pencil Project which provides stationeries for children in need. They’ve been extremely successful in bringing the educational light into the lives of over 5,000 children. If they get funded more, they can buy more stationery to supply to these children in far away lands as well in their own community. The Pencil Project has thrived in these past three years so funding them will sustain their ability to fund a child’s future, one pencil at a time. $1,000 can buy over double the amount.

Dianna Ratsamy, 16, Mira Mesa HS, San Diego, CA – I want to be an EV Service Scholar Intern so that I can gain experience with all of the work offered in this internship. I also find global, international issues a great interest for me because I love diversity and I love helping and supporting problems that occur all over the world.

I do community service not to just gain hours and graduate high school with a great record. I do it because I want to make a difference in our society. Either if it is for my neighborhood or if it is for the whole world. I seek to make our world a better place and change all that is wrong or unfair. And I want others to be motivated and encouraged to do the same by my membership in this program. The more people join and participate in cooperation, the more others will notice and follow the same footsteps too.

I hope to donate my $1000 Internship Scholarship to the “KEEP sex offenders OFF (International)” on Facebook. So far $1,921 have been donated to this cause by various members that support to avoid and halt the continuation of international human trafficking. With $1000 more, I can make a big difference for many lives that are suffering and deserve to live better lives in this world.

Amanda Lucas, 16, Palm Desert HS, Bermuda Dunes, CA – I hope to gain experience. I think it would be good for me to get a feel of what work is really like. I am also hoping that this internship will help me learn how to step out of my confort zone more.

I enjoy helping others for good causes. I have epilepsy, so I like to help children who I feel went somewhat through the same thing that I did. I want them to know that, there is hope. There are people out there like them. They can do it.

I would donate the money to The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, a local zoo near where I live whose goal is ” consevation through education”.

Brian Wong, 15, Alameda HS, Alameda, CA – I want to learn more about global issues and social problems in the world. I also want to increase my awareness of these issues and learn more about what is really going on in the world. My meeting with Ping and Amy Chao on July 14 made me want to do more community service, the best way I know how. When I grow up, I hope to set up my own foundation and help people on a global scale like them. I will use the in-depth knowledge I acquire during this internship program to inspire my peers.

In this new school year, I hope to be able to improve my writing skills through practice; often it takes me a long time to start writing because the thinking process is always a challenge to me. From this internship program, I hope to learn how to write interesting blogs. I also wish to learn more about the problems in developing countries and what I can do to help alleviate those problems. If I were to choose one specific goal for this program, I wish to study the philanthropic practices among the big Chinese corporations. Do these booming companies give back to the community like their American counterparts? Also, do the young people in China do community service? Is community service required in high schools for graduation just like in some American schools? I would also like to explore ways to impact people worldwide, letting them know what people here are doing for their community in the United States, how volunteering is a way of life here.

Through sharing the stories of my two projects, I hope to influence other young people into starting their own projects. I believe that the world can be a better place. I am doing what I can – the best way I know how. Let’s all do what we can – the best way we know how. Together, we can change the world. Overall, I am grateful to have been chosen for this internship. It is a real honor, and I am ready to get started!

I will probably donate it to my local Food Bank unless I find a service project that I want to attend.