1. Swarthmore College Inclusive Excellence Fellows Initiative

I was selected as an Inclusive Excellence Fellow during the fall of 2022, and was assigned the project “Radical Practice of Care.” My project sought to address how we can sustain ourselves as activists when we are involved in social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work. Meaning, radical care does not just mean practicing mental wellness — it is holistic and covers physical wellness, social wellness, emotional wellness, and spiritual wellness — and it extends past individualistic, materialistic/capitalistic, and Western practices. My work during the 2022-23 school year involved intensive research, where I identified skills and practices of radical care that will be used to bring to life an educational program that can support the Swarthmore College community. To learn more about the project and the Inclusive Excellence Fellows Initiative, here is a link to the website. 

Skills Gained

• Project management
  • As it was my first time managing a long-term project, it was helpful to receive the job training that I did through Inclusive Excellence. Fellows were trained on skills such as event planning, time management, budgeting, and interviewing. Campus professionals were brought in for each meeting to support our learning.
  • We established timelines and project goals early on, which supported the development of our projects. While there were a few conflicts, I was able to re- evaluate and readjust my project timeline to be able to meet the goals I had set for it, which also improved my time management skills.
• Communication
  • I communicated with faculty and staff members on a regular basis, whether it was to set up an interview or discuss project details. This helped me gain a better understanding of different communication methods I could use (Zoom, email, social media, in-person meetings) to serve different purposoes.
  • I also drafted a list of interview questions for each person I interviewed, making sure I had questions that answered the general purpose of my project as well as questions specific to the individual and their knowledge. 
• Research
  • Most of my time working on the project was spent doing research, which involved interviewing, examining digital archives, and sifting through online scholarly databases and academic journals. 
  • I also developed better note-taking skills as I sorted through what related to my project, what was most essential to read, and what were the most important ideas that I needed to keep a record of. I became more efficient at researching through this project.

2. PEAC 042 — Human Rights Advocacy and Law

Taking this course has been particularly impactful in that it has motivated me more to strive for change. Every class we discuss pressing issues related to the sphere of international human rights, who has been most impacted, how it has been beneficial, and how we can improve the current state of human rights law to better serve those who are facing human rights violations and disparities. The culminating project for this course is one that assigns us to an issue of our choice and has us design an advocacy campaign to address that issue. The issue I am working on is institutionalized fatphobia, and through this project I have learned more about how to effectively organize against the issues you are fighting, as well as been inspired and motivated by my classmates’ contributions to class and the work they are doing. The lessons this course has taught me are ones that will stay with me throughout my life.

3. EDUC 014 — Power and Pedagogy: Introduction to Education

When I was going through the college application process and thinking about the majors I would want to pursue, Education was a major I thought about but did not think it would be a successful pathway for me, mostly because I did not have confidence in my abilities. However, taking EDUC 014 has shown me that there are other pathways out there than being a teacher, and has reinspired the passion I have for education policy and change. Through my weekly field placements interacting with 2nd grade students and the weekly seminars, I’ve thought deeply about the change I want to enact in this world, and the lasting impact I want to leave. I’ve realized that education is one subject I would like to continue to pursue and fight for.