Humans of BSA
In high school, inspired by Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York, I started interviewing individuals at my school and called it Humans of BSA. Through this project I came out of my shell a lot and learned how much people enjoy telling their stories. I also learned the power of deep listening.
The Arts Collective
Around the same time I started Humans of BSA I created an arts collective at my high school. Since graduating I have continued to lead a group of students in running The Arts Collective(The AC). The AC is now established as non-profit in the state of Maryland with the mission of bringing people together through art to make change together through art. Creating The Arts Collective and continuing to direct it has taught me a lot about leadership and community and I am continuing to grow as the organization grows.
Inclusive Excellence Fellowship
The spring semester of my sophomore year of college I was accepted into the inaugural cohort of the Inclusive Excellence Fellowship at Swarthmore College. This opportunity helped me build upon the skills I had gained in high school and helped me understand project management in a more concrete way
Project 9: Power the Narrative Through Art
A main component of the IE fellowship was coming up with and laying the groundwork for a project. I was lucky enough to work on this with another fellow and together we created Project 9: Power the Narrative Through Art. In past projects I have usually been in a position of leadership so Project 9 challenged me by having to work alongside another individual. However, this experience turned out to be quite positive and taught me a lot about collaboration and compromise.
The Book Club
Housed underneath Project 9 is an initiative called The Book Club. One of the goals of Project 9 is to uplift art as something worth engaging with as well as creating conversation within the community. In the process of working to successfully execute meetings of The Book Club I learned about what brings people together and how to create spaces for conversation.
