The World is More Than I Know

On May 9th, seniors from Flintridge Prep's Border Politics class hosted a panel discussion, answering a range of questions-- like "How does the development of a physical barrier affect the relationship between nation-states?" and, “Should people be able to more freely across borders?”-- using research related to their respective concentrations. Firstly, the Prep students began their panel by defining a border, be it geopolitical, virtual, or physical. Throughout their discussion, the students made sure to cover multiple perspectives on issues, explaining border conflicts in sometimes pragmatic logic, sometimes humanitarian logic. The panelists incorporated pertinent historical examples of various border conflicts in their answers to broader questions, referencing disputes between India and China, Israel and Palestine, and the Europe Migrant Crisis. Issues of asymmetrical power were discussed (see: China's One Belt, One Road initiative), as was economic disparity. On...

As part of their final, GS capstone project, my classmates Ian Macleod and Victor Swezey hosted and moderated a panel discussion about The Housing Crisis in Garland. The five panelists were experts from a host of different fields: Alice Kimm, affordable housing architect and Poly mom; William Huang, director of the Pasadena Housing Department; Jose Felix Cabrera Larios, a Mexican-American immigrant and affordable-housing activist who was forced to live in a single with 14 other people upon his arrival to the U.S.; and Clemente Franco, Board Chair of Inquilinos Unidos (Tenants United) and tenant lawyer representing those who've been illegally evicted. The discussion, which was hosted in both English and Spanish, covered a range of issues, from the growing stratification in modern cities to the rise of NIMBYism, or the "not-in-my-back-yard" vein of thought. Victor and Ian, along with their panelists, spoke of a phenomenon which is not at all new: the exclusion of lower-inco...

During the month of April, as part of a continuation of my Families Forward Grant project, I began to research the topic of global childcare, in preparation for an article I'll be publishing during the month of May. The research I've been conducting and the information I've gleaned has been illuminating, and it's clear that the system of childcare in the United States leaves many families with few options. There are many countries with systems of childcare more comprehensive and accessible than ours, and at the same time, there are developing countries that struggle with issues of childcare on a much larger, more grave scale. According to ODI.org, there were 671 million children under the age of five in 2016, and the number has obviously only continued to grow since. Around the globe, the domestic work of women, including child-rearing, goes uncompensated, and women continue to bear an enormous burden, as only a very small percentage of the world's population can af...

On the 2nd of April, I, along with the rest of the Global Scholars, heard from Vanessa Hua, author of A River of Stars , Deceit and Other Possibilities , and  You Don't Look Like Your Picture. After having read A River of Stars  (courtesy of Ms. Diederich), I was excited to get to hear from its author. Ms. Hua became interested in storytelling (pertaining specifically to Asian-American stories), after hearing one particular story that intrigued her: the story of Azia Kim, a teenaged Asian-American woman from Orange County who, instead of admitting to her self-described "tiger-parents" that she didn't get in to Stanford, pretended to attend the school (even going so far as to live on campus) for an entire semester. In this story, Ms. Hua saw a universal Asian-American experience: wanting to live up to parents' wishes, be it for the knowledge one has of their parents' sacrifices, or for the cultural and familial structures which place undue stress on adolescent ...

On the 8th of April, both during my International Relations class (and then later during Community Time in the library), I had the distinct pleasure of hearing from Miry Whitehill, founder of Miry's List. Miry's List, which Ms. Whitehill unofficially started back in 2016, is a self-described community of volunteers across the Southern California region, which helps newly arrived refugees more comfortably adjust to their new lives in the U.S. While the Community Time meeting with Ms. Whitehill was more of a lecture, our IR class time was spent dialoguing with her directly, and the information that she shared was almost entirely new to me. To start off the conversation, Miry suggested that we go around the room and each name one thing that makes us feel at home. After the exercise, she expertly related the comforts of a refugee with the everyday comforts of an American teenager; everyone just wants to feel safe, and at home. (Throughout the time we spent with Miry, it was obviou...

On Wednesday, March 13th, USC Professor Gerardo Munck spoke to an audience at Los Angeles World Affairs Council Headquarters about the current crisis in Venezuela. To quote the overview: " Once Latin America’s richest economy,  Venezuela  is now home to an economic and humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. Civil unrest, hyperinflation, food shortages and lack of medical supplies highlight the need for intervention from the international community." Here are some of my major take-aways from the event.  In Venezuela, the military is in charge of all distribution of food. As of now, they're grappling with 1 million percent inflation; it's projected to reach 10 million by next year. Many members of the military personnel are corrupt and involved in domestic and international drug trade. Though Guiado is supported by the United States and other dominant, liberal world powers, Maduro has been able to retain his reign; his military hasn't abandoned him yet...