Stephanie Ramirez is a former student of our Global Leadership Youth Program. She writes with gratitude as she explains her experiences taking the program as well as the many impacts it has had on her life moving forward. Here is her testimony:
” My name is Stephanie Rios Ramirez. I attend the Preuss School UCSD as a current senior. Due to the current pandemic, my school throughout the start of my senior year has been mainly online classes. Due to online classes, I don’t need to commute and miss out on some aspects of attending school physically but I am still very busy. I not only attend my classes but also still participate in after school activities and programs. Finally, I am currently working on college applications and scholarships too. I decided to attend the Global Leadership Youth Program’s Confronting Racism and Inequality Module despite my schedule because the topic is important to me.
I have been very aware of the inequalities and racism in the United States but I never had the opportunity to learn about how these topics are global issues. I felt that I need to learn more about this topic because soon I will graduate high school and I believe that I need to learn about these topics since they affect our culture and society. I was excited to attend and finishing the module was rewarding. I learned much more about inequality in Africa, met other students, and enjoyed the speakers who came to the module. Each speaker or presenter brought their unique perspective and knowledge into the issues we were discussing in the module. I felt very comfortable despite it being my first time in this type of module but even I made mistakes I learned how to preserve and I had the support to continue. I aspire to combine and look at topics from an interdisciplinary perspective. I mention the previous fact about me because through my college applications I have applied as a STEM major. However, I am also passionate about the issues present in the module so instead of limiting myself to only attend STEM-related programs. I attend the programs that make me passionate about learning and connect them to my previous knowledge. Due to my experience, my plan is to major in STEM but to use my knowledge to address the inequalities in the STEM fields. Not only do I wish to address these issues but I also want to promote change too.
I am grateful I took advantage of this opportunity because it impacted me, expanded my knowledge, and motivated me”.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Rios Ramirez”
Leave a Reply