Despite my dread at no longer being able to classify myself as being “in my early 20s,” my 24th birthday was great! The week started out on a bit of a sour note when I received a generic letter from the Fulbright Committee on my proposed research project to India. Though my ego was a [...]
After researching start-ups for three months in India, I was keen to work on my own start up once I returned back to America. One might say, overly keen, since I ended up being involved with 5 start-ups over the course of the summer. At first it was just Summer of Solutions, an intensive three [...]
In the aftermath of the Japanese disaster, politicians around the globe have been debating the necessity of including nuclear as part of the transition to a clean energy future. Unlike other leaders who have placed moratoriums on the licensing of new plants, American politicians have largely stuck by nuclear–a consensus that perhaps was aided by storm [...]
Despite all of the fireworks, BBQs and parades to the contrary, this weekend I want to celebrate dependence. The America that existed on July 4, 1776 when our founding fathers declared independence from Great Britain is a far cry from the interconnected and interdependent society in which we currently reside. We know from the abundance of [...]
The tops of my thighs, the small of my back and the beginning of my chest are on fire. Somehow the afternoon spent outside next to a beautiful California palm tree in group discussions about race, community organizing and fundraising have burned me in a way nothing else this year has. Strangely, the seven months [...]
Five days ago I remember sitting nervously around a bowl of cherries at a fellow program leader’s kitchen table. Our conversation kept switching with the tense energy of those with much to say but too many thoughts to clearly express any of them. Have we figured out housing for everyone? How much money do we still [...]
Next weekend I’m heading down south to celebrate my sister’s graduation from college. Although the festivities are sure to be merry, they are slightly tempered by the fact that she will be joining my class, the ”class of the great recession,” and enter the labor force at a time when more than half of recent graduates have [...]
Attending my alma mater’s graduation this weekend provided me with the opportunity to perfect my two minute summarization of my first year out of college that went something like “West Africa-Niger-no, not Nigeria-small village-loved it-al-Qaeda kicked me out-no, really, we were evacuated after a terrorist attack-went to Morocco-didn’t know what to do with my life-attended [...]
This is a piece I wrote for my college newspaper and something I’ve been thinking about a lot as I attempt to justify my decision to spend the next two years of my life as a PeaceCorps Volunteer in Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world. Photo Credit : von Hafften As a [...]
Last weekend, the California Democratic party convened for its annual meeting where it debated and amended a party platform that addresses 23 issues ranging from “business and the economy” to the last category, “world peace.” Unfortunately, none of the 9,000 words managed to address the true issue: California is a failed state. While the term “failed [...]
