KP: How did you work to overcome those feelings?
KP: Tell me about yourself!
AH: “My major is biomedical sciences, my interests are in public health and non-profit work. My ultimate goal is to work with international and national non-profits in public health. Specifically, I would like to bridge those gaps between people and accessible healthcare. I am currently working on my honors thesis, which focuses on Refugee Health and Cultural Competency in Healthcare. It is a big title, but basically it means that refugees come into different countries and there’s a whole process in obtaining healthcare. Every culture is vastly different and it is never the goal to push one person’s culture onto another. So, there needs to be a competency and understanding that people are different and come from different backgrounds. My other passion is social justice and anti-human trafficking work. I’ve worked with the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance to support a national network of safehouses for trafficking survivors and the Walk Her Home organization to launch high school and college clubs in hopes of educating students on signs of trafficking” KP: When did you get involved with these organizations? AH: “When I was in high school, I presented a project on anti-human trafficking and was connected with providers treating survivors at a free medical clinic in my area. It was mind boggling to hear that victims were being trafficked in my community and it was a common issue across the U.S. Later, I was connected with the CEO of Walk Her Home, which is a national nonprofit that focuses on restoring survivors of trafficking and educating students in how to identify and respond to trafficking situations. Later, I was given the opportunity to work with one of Walk Her Home’s beneficiaries, the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance, on their referral service that connects survivors to residential care programs. For survivors, their exploitation often destroys their social, physical and emotional well-being which requires extensive long-term therapies to restore them from their trauma.” KP: What have been some obstacles you have faced? AH: “The biggest obstacle I face is usually myself, I still get burnt out and my main enemy can sometimes be my own mindset and my need to always do everything right. But, you don’t have to be perfect, no one has to be perfect. You also don’t have to say yes to everything, your well-being has to come first or the effort you put in won’t be your best effort. That is easy to forget when you are trying to help people in an impactful way.”
AH: “I have some really really good friends who are always encouraging me to have fun in between. I try to remember to think of myself sometimes too. Someone once told me, `You know no ones going to be perfect, that’s only God, so it’s not going to be you.’” KP: You mentioned finding what’s meaningful to be of great importance to you, so what do you find meaningful? AH: “My faith would be number one because we are only here on earth for so long. I would say social justice is very meaningful to me and having respect for others and always being aware of others and their needs is really important. One quote I always think of when I need motivation is, ‘If you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything.’” KP: How did you develop this mindset? AH: “ My parents raised me in a very specific way. I was taught to never put my head in the sand and to always be making sure that the people around me are treated respectfully and given opportunities they deserve.” KP: What is your main focus in SGA? AH: “ The Student Well-Being Board’s main focus is social, physical, and mental well-being. We’ve worked to connect students with community resources, as well as the resources on campus. Honestly, my role would not exist without my team, my team is everything. One of the main things is, I am delegating and learning how to be a better leader through this experience. This semester we are working on an iLearn site that will contain all necessary student resources relating to wellness. This includes links and contact information for students, that way students can be aware of support available throughout campus. We are also looking to ensure that underrepresented groups on campus such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC are represented in wellness. Something that often gets forgotten is that wellness doesn’t look the same for every person. So, making sure everyone has the opportunity to be well on campus is important.”
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