Below are excerpts from Andi Cartwrights winning essay for the Global Awareness portion of the 2018 Building A Better World Scholarship. Go here to find the 2018 BBW Winners.
Why was I so fortunate? – “I often find myself asking the same internal question: “Why was I so fortunate to be born here?” No one chooses the life they were given …We live in a land that gives us opportunities, hope, and a promising future if we choose to work for it. Sometimes I forget that I live a life full of advantages…growing up with freedom, having the right to vote, receiving a good education, and having access to basic needs, such as food, water, and shelter. Yet, so many others live in a constant state of fear of war, poverty, disease and much more. Being globally aware is to see these problems around our world, and understand how our problems are just first world problems.”
7.442 billion people on this planet – “Among the world, there are billions of different people, religions, cultures, and ways of living. As one person out of 7.442 billion people in this world, it is my job to connect myself with these people and understand our differences and commonalities. It is our job to learn and be open to learning about the other ways of living that may be abnormal to ourselves, yet accept and value them.”
Getting to know you – ” Knowledge of world and the positive or negative events going on around the world all helps us understand each other a little more. Every single person on this planet has different backgrounds and beliefs. Knowing and understanding what others are going through and knowing their background will help everyone connect with one another on a deeper level.”
Less Hate – “Most of the time in today’s society people do not take the time to get to know one another and we a quick to judge them based on what they look like, what their race is, or even how they are dressed. If everyone were to take the time to listen to one another and understand their reasons for what they are doing, whether it be migrating to the United States or even having a different political belief, the world would be less conflicted and would have less hatred among its people.”
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…and check out Andi’s plans– “It all begins out of state, 8 hours away, at a small liberal arts college 
in Waverly Iowa. I am enrolled at Wartburg College in the fall of 2018, and plan to pursue their Nursing Program, majoring in neuroscience or biology. Along with this, I plan to minor in Spanish, to incorporate a second language that will be beneficial for me in the medical field. While I plan to achieve all of this, I plan to travel through Wartburg’s Study Abroad Program as well as participate in many service trips each year that are across America. After research and talking to the head of Spanish at Wartburg, I am very interested in going on our Costa Rica study abroad trip. This trip is new to Wartburg and is for students pursuing both Spanish and Nursing. While in Costa Rica I will get to work in their health care system at a hospital as well as being able to use my second language.”
Thank you for your support through the years.
Together We Can
