Reflections of a Citizen of the World

Ever since I started my college life, about a year ago, I have always found myself extremely busy. Being very ambitious (to say the least), I decided to take 5.5 credits in school, besides all the extracurricular commitments I had already assigned to myself. I knew I wouldn’t have much time to dedicate to anything else other than studying when classes started.

I couldn’t be more wrong. As days of classes and nights of study passed by, I felt there was something missing. Being an 18 year old Brazilian who went abroad for the first time because of college, coming to America made me finally acknowledge and celebrate how much I was a citizen of the world. However, I simply felt that I wasn’t doing enough for my own beloved world – and part of that was because I did not know exactly what I could do as a busy college student.

In addition to that, in March of my freshman year, I went to the 59^th Commission on the Status of Women in the United Nations and even though I could engage in the conversations about women’s issues, I realized I knew very little about real life struggles that change-makers in this area faced. Of course, that was because I myself wasn’t making any change.

In this context, I decided to go to a Public Policy and Social Work Fair at Bryn Mawr College. I will never forget when I saw a banner titled “INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT”; in a blink of an eye, I was at Profugo’s table gathering as much information as I could. Ty Thiele, a Program Manager with Profugo, introduced me to some of their incredible projects in Wayanad, India. I won’t list them here because there are many, but long story short, I fell in love, applied to be an intern, and now work for Profugo!

I thank destiny for putting me and Profugo at the same event. Even though I cannot say I am less busy, I can say that now I truly feel that I am an unique piece that makes the “world puzzle” a little more complete. It doesn’t matter if I’m researching, selling bags, writing blogs or analyzing projects, I always feel that I am absolutely instrumental and that my work is making at least one life easier in this world, so that’s why I stay. In addition to that, I also have a lot of fun, make many friends, and gain professional experience while working for International Development at Profugo.

I’ve always thought I had to wait to be very rich, very famous, or very influential to make a change in the world. However, Profugo showed me that I can do this right now. As a broke college student, I cannot afford to fund initiatives and projects around the world, but I can certainly offer my sincere work. The truth is that there was nothing to wait for.