Global Vantage Issue 17 - The Power of Education

EDITOR’S NOTE

Haley Esbeck, Co-Editor in Chief 2023-2024

noun.

ed·u·ca·tion: an enlightening experience

Education is arguably the most valuable thing that money can buy, yet that is not solely how its value is determined. It changes hearts and minds, teaches people how to envision others’ lives, transports imaginations to new places, and empowers students of all ages to take charge of not only their futures, but their present lives, too. The classroom is a portal, a time machine, a think tank, and full of endless possibilities. For students around the world, attending school is a gift—whether they realize it or not—and the worth they get out of it often depends on the work and dedication they put in.

In February of 2023, Global Vantage Co-Leaders Ainsley Cobb and Haley Esbeck, joined by Germaine Jackson, Head of Service Learning at Pacific Ridge School, embarked on a journey to visit Global Vantage’s partner school, the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) in Nairobi, Kenya. What shocked them most about Kibera (one of the world’s largest informal settlements in which the school is located) was not the chal-

PRS STAFF

Co-Editors in Chief

Ainsley Cobb ‘24

Haley Esbeck ‘24

Global Vantage Members

Sadie Stern ‘24

Kylie Martindale ‘24

Colt Muellen ‘24

Shiva Kabra ‘25

Dylan Smith ‘25

Kady Hawk ‘26

Abigail Qiu ‘26

Aleena Kim ‘26

Ashlyn Esbeck ‘26

Eva Kuhn ‘26

Ruby Dai ‘27

Karina Revenko ‘27

Faculty Advisors

Gabriela Nava-Carpizo (Global Vantage Group Advisor)

Germaine Jackson (Head of Service Learning)

Faculty Editors

Kieran Ridge (Journalism Teacher)

lenging conditions the residents endure or the unexpected support systems that result from it, but the way in which the students at the KGSA are genuinely so grateful for the opportunity to go to school. Coming from the bubble of Southern California, it was incredibly inspiring to meet girls our age that openly love and are passionate about school. This revitalizing experience made the theme for this year’s magazine issue extremely obvious, and we are so excited to share it with you.

As always, the Global Vantage Magazine is put together by a team of students, and is truly a learning experience for all that are involved. After departing from tradition with the look of last year’s magazine, Issue 16: Love (Not Hate), we decided to return to the aesthetic of the earlier Global Vantage issues by creating a new template and returning to a previous logo. We hope to set the standard for the next generation of Global Vantage leaders and members with this change.

We are also proud to announce a new partnership with the Harkness Institute in Nuevo Vallarta, whose students have shared intriguing and meaningful stories. Additionally, this issue features our returning partners and contributors from the KGSA, as well as CETYS Univesity in Tijuana, Mexico. You will of course find a variety of content from Pacific Ridge School (PRS) students and the people they have connected with or solicited articles from as well.

As you read through Issue 17: The Power of Education, we hope you can be transported into the lives of students and life-long learners around the world to experience education, and its impacts, from their point of view.

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS

KGSA

Khadija Mohammed (Journalism Club Advisor)

Prudence Indeche

Salima Amisa Hussein

Mary Nagawa

Charity Nabwaya

Loreen Kasivwa

Sheryl Samantha

Sarah Mong’ote

Abigael Naeku Mailyi

Lonah Lombo

Brigid Anne

Grace Tabu

Mary Akinyi

Ann Sieku

Blessing Kaluhi

Faith Achieng

Siama Musa

Tabitha Paul

Ibrahim (Student from Baringo County)

CETYS

Edgar Ornelas (Journalism Club Advisor)

Lucía Beltrán

Luma Rodríguez

Juan Pablo Ricaño

Carlos Rivera

Leonardo Rodríguez

Alfredo González

Estefanía Hernández

Emilio Flores

HARKNESS INSTITUTE

Jonas Emiliano Delgado Sandoval (Journalism Club Student Leader)

Ania Cuevas Dorantes

María Fernanda Velasco Marchesin

Carla Andrea Castro Rosas

Natalia Ruiz León

Through the Lens: Kibera & Kenya, February 2023, by Ainsley Cobb Beyond the Traditional Classroom, A Collection by CETYS Contributors A Glimpse into Beyond by Aleena Kim

Exploring the Differences by Ashlyn Esbeck and Eva Kuhn Combining Skateboarding with Education by Kady Hawk

Impressed: Teaching Printmaking at the Oxbow School by Daniele Frazier Lessons from Across Borders by Colt Muellen and Sadie Stern Environmentally Inspired by Dylan Smith

How to Hear in the Middle of Nowhere by Cindy Mu

A Conversation with a Tea Scholar by Abigail Qui

The Need for Representation of Women in Athletic Research by Abigail Qui Kibera Girls Soccer Academy by Prudence Indeche Baringo County, Kenya by Ibrahim Cancer as a Chronic Disease by Salima Amisa Hussein Water in Kibera by Mary Nagawa

POEMS, SHORT STORIES,

What We Can Achieve and What We Can Offer by Charity Nabwaya Inspiration, Motivation, Fun, and Other Quotes from KGSA Students Labrinth Within by Ania Cuevas Dorantes

To Leave a Mark by María Fernanda Velasco Marchesin Corazón de Poeta (Poet’s Heart) by Carla Andrea Castro Rosas The Stairwell by Natalia Luís León Japanese Cay by Natalia Luís León

Through the Lens: Kibera & Kenya Ainsley

Cobb

In February of 2023, following the release of Issue 16 of Global Vantage Magazine, titled “Love (Not Hate),” Haley Esbeck (‘24) and I, as co-Editors in Chief of Global Vantage, visited the Kibera Girls’ Soccer Academy (KGSA) to collaborate face to face. Our time in Kenya was characterized by profound connections, meaningful collaboration, and the mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences. The desire to convey the indelible impact that each experience imprinted on us led me to keep my 35-millimeter film camera in hand at all times, capturing the moments that seemed to transcend the limitations of words. These moments have been embedded into this story, intended to be shared indefinitely.

From Adversity to Triumph: Narratives of Empowerment at KGSA

Kibera Girls Soccer Academy started as a small community-based organization called Girls Soccer in Kibera (GSK), whose major goal was to stem the stark gender inequalities that are clearly evident in Kibera, the largest informal urban settlement in Africa and one of the five largest in the entire world, according to Habitat for Humanity.1 Kibera, like many other informal settlements around the world, has been labeled an “illegal settlement” by the government, resulting in all formal recognition of Kibera being stripped away. The government has absolved itself of any responsibility for the civic care of the 700,000 people whose home is in Kibera.

Kibera is a place where strength and resilience are born out of hardship, and where the women who call it home stand tall in the face of adversity. Among them is a beacon of hope and inspiration to all who know her, Dalifa Hassan. Dalifa grew up in the western part of Kenya, in a town called Busia, and graduated from Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in 2012. She has since received a Bachelor’s Degree in Education Science from Maseno University, then returned to KGSA as a Mathematics and Chemistry teacher, in order to continue KGSA’s mission of empowering girls through education.

1 “The World’s Largest Slums: Dharavi, Kibera, Khayelitsha & Neza,” Habitat for Humanity Great Britain, December 2017, accessed May 28, 2024, https://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/blog/2017/12/the-worlds-largest-slumsdharavi-kibera-khayelitsha-neza/.

joy

In the photograph below, Dalifa hugs a current KGSA student who stands in the same place as Dalifa did eleven years ago. In a moment that captures the essence of hope and triumph over adversity, Dalifa and her student stand out amidst the joyous celebration of KGSA’s first dormitory opening, their embrace serving as a beacon of light in a sea of jubilant faces.

“Living life without hope is like living in a hole without anything that is of importance. Girls and boys in Kibera are living without hope in their

lives. It is a routine because most have experienced problems—they are forced to get pregnant early and are also expected to get married at times,” KGSA student Rachel writes.

As KGSA’s first dormitory opens its doors, it provides a much-needed sanctuary for a hundred girls who have been facing the typical constraints of living in Kibera. For these girls, the dormitory represents a chance to break free from the dangers and uncertainties of life outside the school. The dormitory is a place where they can pursue their dreams with renewed vigor and determination, surrounded by safety, security, and unwavering support.

As the celebrations unfold around them, Dalifa and her student share a moment of quiet reflection. They are filled with gratitude for the opportunities that await them, as well as the determination to face whatever challenges the future may hold with courage and resilience. Meanwhile, another KGSA student, Faith, who is in Form 2 (the equivalent of Grade 10 in the U.S.), waves to my camera, surrounded by smiling peers and close friends.

Among the crowd of celebrating KGSA students at the dormitory festivities, a voice echoes above the commotion. “If you have time, come see the new books that we received in the library! I’m so excited, I can’t believe it!”

Dalifa Hassan hugs one of her students at the KGSA dorm opening celebration.

More

at the KGSA dorm opening celebration.

Naima, a 2016 graduate of KGSA, studied coding at the Moringa School and gained a degree in Graphic Design from AkiraChix before joining the KGSA staff as a librarian in 2022. Bringing her unique skill and knowledge to support both the students and the school in its entirety, she holds an immense passion for illuminating young minds through the pages of books—and is full of joy to have received two new additions to the KGSA’s still-growing library, the memoirs of Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, the former U.S. president whose father was born in Kenya. Driven by her vision of KGSA’s wooden library shelves packed with books, Naima aspires to curate a diverse collection of books and short stories from not only local Kenyan authors, but also international authors with varying experiences, backgrounds and perspectives.

Foundations of Resilience: Homes and Community Structures in Kibera

Theaverage home in Kibera is generally constructed with mud walls, layered with concrete, a tin roof, and an earth or concrete floor. The average cost of a home is around 700 shillings per month—or ten U.S. dollars—with eight or more people living in it at once. “It is small, but we like it that way,” Miriam, a student at the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, firmly states as we sit inside her home, accompanied by her mother. Although Miriam does not reside at home during the school year—due to the fact that she boards at KGSA’s newly constructed dormitory—this home is everything to her. The crooked family photos and the garlands that adorn the mud walls reflect her life here. While adjusting to Merriam’s absence has been difficult for her mother, she chooses to cope with the situation. With Merriam in the dormitory, her mother doesn’t need to fear for her child’s safety.

As we exit Miriam’s home—accompanied by roosters and her pet kitten named Nelson Mandela—Blessing, a fellow KGSA student, stands in the walkway awaiting the ideal moment to capture an image of Merriam and her mother. She utilizes a camera from Kibera Girls Soccer

Academy’s journalism club, the Shedders. The Shedders—so named because they shed light on the untold stories of their community—serve as a means of empowerment for the girls at Kibera Girls’ Soccer Academy, giving them a voice and a platform to express themselves. Through their work, they show the world the resilience and strength of the people of Kibera, who face significant challenges, but who also possess a deep sense of community and hope for a better future.

Naima in the KGSA library.

Miriam and her mother standing outside the doorway to their family home in Kibera.

Merriam with her pet kitten inside of her family home.

Merriam and her mother in their Kibera family home.

Housed within a building constructed for the purpose of stemming the stark gender inequalities and educational disparities evident in Kibera, the Shedders Journalism Club meets to strengthen the voices of not only their community but one another. Beneath the soft glow of streamers reading “Journalism Club,” a circle of students fills the room with their voices declaring, “My dream is to be a journalist,” and “I want to be one of the many people in this world pushing for change.” These students are our colleagues in Global Vantage—collaborating together to see the fruition of print publications uniting our voices despite the 9,671-mile gap that physically separates us.

The primary caretaker of children in Kibera is most commonly a female figure, making single fathers a rare occurrence. Blessing’s father— the exception to these demographics—has been present in her life since the day of her birth. He takes great pride in coaching women’s soccer teams, as he sees much promise in the talent of female soccer players in Kenya. For the past twenty years, he has coached women’s soccer teams from youth to pre-professional, including Blessing’s first soccer team. Although Blessing now plays on KGSA’s soccer team, she still takes time between studying to work on honing her soccer skills through the coaching of her father. The two spend their weekends watching television shows in their home, accompanied by posters of respected female soccer players pasted on the surrounding walls.

Global Vantage seeks to ensure that journalism continues to be a catalyst for youth empowerment in Kibera, contributing to the trajectory-changing influence that the opportunity to become involved with publications holds. Through direct collaboration facilitated by meetings, workshops, and intimate conversations, Global Vantage and the KGSA Shedders delved into the importance of student publications having a presence in communities such as Kibera. The two groups of students, alumni and faculty advisors—from Pacific Ridge School and KGSA— created an environment where together we learned about journalism, the creation of print publications, photography and how to adequately

share the untold experiences of individuals.

During the profound moments of building connections through open conversations, one student conveyed the message,

“We just want to be seen.”

Blessing (Form 2, U.S. equivalent of Grade 10)

KGSA students (left to right) Miriam, Faith, and Blessing pictured beneath the banners set up by the Shedders as a surprise gift for Global Vantage and Pacific Ridge School.

In a world rife with systemic inequalities and underrepresentation, where opportunities to have one’s presence acknowledged are scarce, each story written on a single strand of stable internet cable becomes a matter of representation. As each photograph holds the potential to shatter stereotypes and empower voices that have long been silenced, it is essential that the stories behind them are accurately represented. With each moment in time that passes through the lens of a camera or the publishing room of our student magazine, we strive to capture the unseen and the overlooked, unveiling the beauty that resides within the shared human experience, seeing as it holds the potential to bridge societal gaps. Guided by the simple words, “We just want to be seen,” Global Vantage Magazine is propelled to break barriers, evoke empathy, and ignite social change.

Kenya’s Soul: Unveiling Stories Beyond Kibera

In the midst of Global Vantage’s 2023 trip to Kenya, we had the privilege of exploring other parts of the country, facilitated by our KGSA hosts.

As depicted here, a Kazuri bead-maker crafts beauty in Nairobi. In 1975, a small workshop in Nairobi began experimenting with handcrafted ceramic beads. They named their venture Kazuri, which translates to “small and beautiful” in Swahili.2 Recognizing the great need for stable employment and empowerment among women in the villages surrounding Nairobi, the founders, both single mothers, made it their mission to create an enterprise that would provide exactly that. They aimed to uplift and enable women who were struggling to find opportunities to support themselves and their families. Through years of dedication and hard work, Kazuri has grown tremendously. Today, it has a workforce of over 340 skilled women who create stunning ceramic beads and unique pottery. Each bead and piece of pottery is handmade and hand-painted in rich, vibrant colors that reflect the spirit and culture of Kenya.

2 “Swahili language,” in Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed May 28, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Swahili-language.

KGSA student Faith holds a camera as she works alongside Global Vantage team members to capture Kibera through photography. Founder of the KGSA, Abdul Kassim, may be seen behind her alongside Germaine Jackson outside of the schools’ walls.

Artisans at Kazuri bead-making center, Nairobi.

Students and faculty from KGSA and Pacific Ridge School were also able to visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on a KGSA school field trip. Wildlife, ranging from the African savanna elephant to wildebeests, find refuge in Kenya’s preserves and national parks—and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates one of the most successful orphan elephant rescue and rehabilitation programs in the world. The trust offers orphaned elephants—and additional wildlife such as warthogs and yellow baboons—a safe haven to heal and work towards being reintegrated into the wild. For many of us, this was our first opportunity to see an African savanna elephant face to face. The fencing along the elephant’s habitat was engulfed in smiles, as students reached out to touch the dust-covered skin of the elephants.

Final Words of Hope: Asha Jaffar’s Perspective on Shaping Kibera’s Narrative

For the final words of this story, I want to turn to Asha Jaffar, who is a graduate of the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy.3 She was president of the Journalism Club (KGSA Shedders), Head Girl, top of her class, and president of the Student Board, then later graduated from Moi University and became a professional journalist and a social policy advocate. She is witty, courageous and speaks her mind passionately and fluently in three languages—Swahili, Nuba, and English. She has worked with international media like Der Spiegel, The Guardian, and the BBC, along with publications and non-profits in Kenya, such as Action Aid.

Asha continues to work diligently to be an effective journalist who tells her story and the stories of young women in Kibera, while also correcting the misrepresentation of Kibera in online and international news platforms. I am including her perspective in this article to provide balance, depth and “an inside view” from Kibera and KGSA. Asha’s words undo stereotypes and look forward to a future of hope and change for KGSA, Kibera, and Kenya.

“The power of words—the keyword is words. Whatever I read might influence my life in either a positive or negative way. Not only me, but also anyone. Over the past years I have always had the habit of surfing the internet, reading articles people write about Kibera. Every time I clicked to read an article I was awestruck, time in and time out, not at the creativity of these writers, but at their misinformation, lack of love and negative energy. I was always baffled by the amount of misinformation out there. ‘Kibera is dangerous.’ ‘Kibera is full of goons and dependents.’ Kibera this, Kibera that. All people ever report about is the negative part of Kibera, and my question always remains: ‘Why not Kibera, a breeding site

3 Asha Jaffar, Documentaries.org, accessed May 28, 2024, https://www.documentaries.org/filmmakers/asha-jaffar/.

The Giraffe Center operates with the purpose of educating Kenyan school children and youth about their country’s wildlife and environment, as well as providing local and international visitors an opportunity to come in close contact with the world’s tallest animal species. On a field trip to the center, we were able to feed the Rothschild giraffes and gain a deeper understanding of the vital protection efforts in and beyond Kenya.

Nairobi National Park conserves and manages Kenya’s wildlife for the benefit of nature and humanity. On the wide open grasslands of Nairobi National Park, the horizon is shared by the skyscrapers of Nairobi and the skyscrapers of nature—giraffes. We embarked on a sunrise safari to view the plethora of diverse wildlife species that the national park hosts, including the rhinos in the photograph below.

for talented, witty, and hardworking individuals?’ No, this would not bring donors in. Donors want the negative stories, right? So that’s what people give them.

‘The fact is, if you want to know about Kibera, why don’t you book a flight to Nairobi and pay us a visit? Trying to influence young lives with sad stories about Kibera—your writing might give hope to someone or destroy someone, so why not choose to inspire that kid in Kibera who

thinks he wants to be the next footballer, writer or artist? I am a writer, and my main aim in life is telling stories, and trying to create a picture for people, and that is what I love to do. Telling people that Kibera is full of talent and not AIDS and poverty. Positive stories, ladies and gentlemen—give hope. And hope lives longer than donors.

‘One of my favorite quotes by Bruce Barton says it all: ‘Nothing splendid has ever been achieved

KGSA students meet orphaned baby elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

An orphaned baby elephant at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

A Rothschild giraffe emerges from the habitat at the Giraffe Center, Kenya.

Nairobi National Park, Kenya.

Two KGSA students look out over Kibera from an awning of the school’s dormitory.

except by those who dared to believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.’ You walk around Kibera, and you meet people with the most infectious smiles. Positive people. Even though we might not have a lot, we are working on it. Soon, with a lot of people speaking out—not donors, but themselves—we will have a better place. A safe Kibera.

‘Someone once said that if you want to help the people in the slums, then you have to let them do the job themselves. No amount of donors and no amount of international pressure can change Kibera. It is the people living in it. I always say no one will come from another place and make your house the way you want it to be. People have their own choices and preferences. And those people are here in Kibera. We want change, but we do not want people writing negative things about Kibera. If you want to help change Kibera, if you want to make that three-year-old kid in Kibera have hope and believe he can be whatever he wants to be, then let them read positive stories. Success stories. Not poverty articles, with faces of ‘poverty-stricken children,’ but positive stories with happy and hopeful faces.”

Photographs of the KGSA and the view of Kibera from the KGSA dormitory.

KGSA student Miriam looks out of a sunlit classroom window over her community, Kibera.

Germaine Jackson, Head of Service-Learning at Pacific Ridge School, working with members of Kibera Girls Soccer Academy’s journalism club,The Shedders, during a photography workshop facilitated by Global Vantage.

Photograph of Global Vantage members with Pacific Ridge School students and faculty members during their 2019 visit to Kenya hangs in the office of the current Director of the KGSA, Claris Akinyi.

KGSA student Miriam holds hands with the Pacific Ridge School Head of Service-Learning, Germaine Jackson, as they walk through the streets of Kibera together.

Drama club students dancing at the dorm reveal celebration.

Photo taken by Alden Harris, (student at the University of Colorado Boulder and member of the 2023 Kenya Trip.)

KGSA Journalism club students in the main hall of the dorm building taking their first look at Global Vantage Issue 16: Love (Not Hate). Photo taken by Haley Esbeck.

Haley Esbeck and the student ambassadors from the KGSA pose with a Rothschild giraffe after feeding it at the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, Kenya.

Rose is the student feeding the giraffe.

“Rose and I had an instant connection. On my first day at the school, she introduced herself and pulled me out of my group to give me a personal tour of the newly built dormitories. Her confidence and aura of happiness are what struck me first. She talked to me, a stranger from a different corner of the world, with a warmth and openness that I have seldom experienced. Rose told me about what it was like to grow up in Kibera, and about her family. She was incredibly grateful for the opportunity of education, and I could sense her determination to make the most of it. Since the trip, I have kept in contact with her. We occasionally send pictures and check up on each other. Rose has graduated from KGSA and is currently pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. I have no doubt she will do great things, bringing up herself, and her community along the way. She is truly an inspiration.”

—Alden Harris

Beyond the Traditional Classroom

Three Aspects that Shape the Educational Experience at CETYS Tijuana

Edgar Ornelas

Hello! My name is Edgar Ornelas and I am a teacher at CETYS Universidad, a high school and university campus located in Tijuana, Mexico, also known as the corner of Latin America. Along with the people from Southern California, we live in a unique border region, a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and experiences that shape our everyday lives.

The article you are about to read is the product of a collaborative effort between me and some of my high school students. When tackled with the assignment of writing about their educational ex-

periences, the students decided to focus on three aspects that have proved to be essential to their development and learning experience: 1) service learning/community outreach, 2) technology, and 3) after-school programs.

As you will learn through my students’ experiences, these three elements are an integral part of their school program and they work with or through them every week. I am very pleased to share their thoughts with the world and hope that you find them as inspiring as I did. Enjoy!

“Education is the key that unlocks the golden door to freedom.”

–George Washington Carver

How Service Learning Has Shaped our High School Years

Students getting involved in their educational community is essential for a variety of reasons, mostly because being involved in the community facilitates the application of knowledge acquired in the classroom. Engaging with a community fosters discipline when facing a problem, it helps us to develop an outstanding perspective to understand our surroundings, and it opens unknown doors that will guide us through life.

In our opinion, education is not preparation for life in itself. Instead, it aims to empower students with a gift; education is our most powerful tool to change the world. The real purpose of education is to nurture growth in our minds and to help us feel connected to the world.

Getting involved with the community helps us feel confident about facing the challenges in the world; there are no obstacles that can limit our learning when working with a community. We are all growing alongside each other, everyone with a different mentality, destiny, and

strengths. But in this diversity we find richness; we have learned the value of sharing our experiences and have developed fond memories that will accompany us when we part ways.

Venturing out into different communities gives us a new perspective on how to see the world, it feels like a new universe of opportunities to experience. Having these experiences has helped us have a richer experience in high school. Community engagement empowers, it gives us a say over how we want to impact the world and nobody can take that away from us. This is why students should involve themselves in their communities: to learn, inform, educate, reflect, and, most importantly, to connect.

Lucía Beltran was

in Tijuana, Baja

and

in Tecate. She loves soccer, football, art, and coffee. She is particularly fascinated by American football and flag football, and dedicated four years to soccer, which taught her valuable lessons in teamwork and perseverance. After an injury stopped her form pursuing soccer, she discovered the calming and therapeutic nature of art.

Lucía Beltrán and Luma Rodríguez

Photos of the view from the CETYS University in Tijuana Mexico, taken in November of 2022 by Haley Esbeck.

born

California,

raised

How Technology Helped Us Through the Pandemic and Beyond

Juan Pablo Ricaño, Carlos Rivera, and Leonardo Rodríguez

The pandemic has changed many things about our day-to-day lives, from the way we interact with each other to our topic: education.

When the pandemic occurred, there was a sudden need for online tools for education. While these tools were available in the past, there was never such an urgency to refine and upgrade them until COVID-19.

An example of a tool like this is Blackboard, an application we use at CETYS, which allows teachers to keep in contact with students by sending reminders of activities or materials needed, as well as allowing students to send activities or view course information from the comfort of their own home. Today even if we are no longer

in a pandemic, these tools are still used and are an everyday part of our educational journey. We now submit most of our assignments online.

Another good example of such a tool is online meetings. During the pandemic, online meetings helped bring a solution to our lack of face-to-face interaction. Tools such as Skype, Zoom, and Google Meet gained a lot of relevance because of this phenomenon. Again, today, these tools are still useful in our daily lives. They allow us to not miss classes during rainy days or to attend workshops that are delivered from another part of the world. Something that a few years ago seemed so far away!

These online tools have opened the gate for new

ways of communicating and learning. They were particularly useful at a time when we were forced to stay at home. With these difficult times behind us, we have gained some useful tools to help us on our education journey.

Juan Pablo Ricaño (JP) is a 17-year-old from San Diego living in Tijuana. He is interested in computers and technology.

Carlos Emilio Rivera is a 16-year-old from Tijuana who constantly betters himself by improving his abilities through dedication and hard work. He has a great interest in topics that include technology and the functioning of mechanisms.

How Practicing Sports Helps Me to be a Better Student

Participating

in sports during my high school years has certainly contributed in a big way to my educational process. The sense of being part of a sports team provides me with a valuable break from academic pressures and contributes to my personal growth, sense of identity, and community.

Playing sports has been a great way to get rid of stress and to remain active, but more importantly, it’s given me the opportunity to be a part of a team that has taught me about the value of cooperation, determination, and perseverance. This sense of unity and collective actions towards a common goal was incredibly empowering. Even if sometimes it just seemed like arduous practices or team-building activities, the experiences shared with my teammates created lasting memories and friendships, that I will never wish to forget.

Also, the discipline and time management skills I developed through sports had a positive impact on my academic performance. The mix of training, games, and classes taught me how to prioritize and manage my time very effectively. The lessons that I learned in the field converted me into a responsible and more focused person.

All in all, after-school programs, such as sports, have played a crucial role in my journey through high school. They make my time more enjoyable and exciting, and they provide me with the opportunity to grow in a healthy, balanced way.

Alfredo González

After School Programs Helped Us Discover Our Passion for Musical Theater and Community Outreach

Hi! My name is Estefanía Hernádez. Musical theater has become a natural part of my routine. It’s something that always keeps me excited; just the idea that I have something that I love already on my schedule. Even after coming home from school completely exhausted, it takes just 5 minutes into a new choreography to completely change my mood for the better. It provides satisfaction, it’s a challenge, it’s strategy. Being able to see results after each rehearsal keeps me motivated to keep going. For me, it’s not just singing or dancing or acting, it’s pushing my boundaries, and it’s proving myself every time.

For me, musical theater is not just a hobby, it’s something I want to pursue as a career. Just by practicing every day, I feel like I have been training for college and my future. What once started as a simple hobby, has turned into what I want to do as a career. In this way, after-school activities can help us discover hidden talents or passions that we may want to follow later in life.

Hello! I am Emilio Flores and I have recently started working with the Interact Club, a branch of Rotary International that allows high school students like me to make an impact in our community through diverse activities. Being able to make even the smallest impact on a specific cause brings a type of joy and satisfaction that can’t be obtained otherwise. It’s a way to realize the power we have to make a change just by bringing forces together with other like-minded students.

In the end, we’ve learned that feeling like family, in both Interact Club and Musical Theater, has made our high school years so much better. They create a safe space to make the changes and decisions to shape our future.

Estefania Hernandez is 16 years old was born and raised in Tijuana, Baja California. She has always been passionate about visual and performing art, from musical theater to painting to writing. She also enjoys sports and fitness, and just recently became a Certified Personal Trainer.

Emilio Flores García is 17 years old and was born in San Diego, California. He is currently studying in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at CETYS University. He is committed to his community and looking to make an impact locally and internationally; his goal is to attend university in the United States to study engineering.

Alfredo González is a 17-year-old high school student interested in physics and world history. He enjoys being able to get together with friends and enjoy simple things like playing basketball, watching movies, or just hanging out.

Estefanía Hernández and Emilio Flores

A Glimpse into Beyond: The Daily Life of a South Korean Student Aleena

From the moment she wakes up, she can hear the cicadas ringing and the bustling city sounds of buses and people. Living in the heart of Seoul, 손희승 (Son Hee-seung), or “Kaylee,” lives the life of a typical high school student.

At 7:00 am, she slowly makes her way to the dining table where her mom has laid out seolleongtang, a stew made of Ox bone, kimchi, seaweed, panchan, and a traditional staple in a Korean household: rice. After finishing her meal, she dresses in a clean, pressed uniform and finishes the rest of her morning routine. At around 7:50 am, she is expected to have her bag packed and ready to start the day.

Outside, she sees the city bus coming her way. While it is common for students in America to be picked up by a bright yellow school bus, Korean students often use public transportation. Kaylee typically rides the bus for fifteen minutes with some of her school mates.

In her all-girl Christian public school, students are not allowed to have exotic hair colors, paint their nails, or wear makeup. The campus consists of three buildings on a beautiful campus built in 1887. A typical Korean high school class has thirty students, packed into a relatively small space.

Students spend their entire day in a single classroom, with subject-specialized teachers visiting them in turn. First period, the class president stands and students are expected to formally bow to their homeroom teacher.

Her second period arts, culinary, and crafts teacher arrives. These classes specialize in teaching students the importance of necessary life skills,

Kim

like cooking, sewing, basic plumbing, paying taxes and finances. Kaylee claims she has learned many basic things, but her most memorable time was when she got to sew a pouch into a wallet.

After the first few classes of the day, students can use their monthly allowance to get a quick, affordable snack from the street corner. These vendors usually sell popcorn chicken, ice cream, and tteokbokki (a dish with rice cakes, spices, and broth.)

After returning to campus, students finally enter the lunchroom at 11:30 am. Students are provided with a meal of rice, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste soup), panchan, spinach, kimchi, vegetables, and a sweet treat. Schools use metal plates, trays, and utensils to eliminate large amounts of waste. Food is made and served by students based on a rotating schedule between classes.

In the last hour of school, Kaylee meets back with her homeroom teacher and they all say their formal goodbyes. The teacher assigns students to clean the classrooms and hallways. Kaylee cleans on Thursdays with her homeroom classmates.

From 5:00 to 10:00 pm, she has to catch the next bus to go to her English academy, twenty minutes away from her school. These English academies are usually taught by foreign teachers ranging from the United States to all over the globe. While these academies are not mandatory, every student still makes English and other studies a priority because of competition over slots at Korean colleges.

At 10:00 pm, Kaylee and her friends head to the local convenience store to take home ramen and

soda. She rarely has any time to talk with her friends at this time, as she proceeds to quickly run back home to finish her homework. When she does have time, she is able to walk with friends because of Korea’s safe environment. Older students often return from school as late as 1:00 am!

At home, Kaylee finishes the rest of her homework and Bible study, completes her nightly routine, and takes a quick stroll through social media before falling asleep at midnight. By the end of her day, she has done at least ten hours of studying.

Kaylee’s story shows the differences in the cultural and educational systems between Korea and the US. Although Korea is not perfect in terms of its academic effect on a student’s individual growth and identity, as there are specific norms expected of them, they are able to hold strong connections with their culture and learn important life skills, responsibilities, and behavior.

On the other hand, American schools leave room for students to express themselves and have a variety of different talents and passions.

In my experience, the education in America is also more adaptable to each student’s preferences, but is only ranked 28th in math of the 37 participating countries, showing the struggles America has with basic arithmetic (Mervosh).

We all live in the same globe and are interconnected, but we still manage to live very different lives. The different perspectives enlighten students on how different the maturing process is for someone their age.

Exploring the Differences between Religious and Secular Schools in Southern California

Ashlyn Esbeck and Eva Kuhn

Agood education could be defined as instilling the drive for lifetime learning, fostering curiosity, and creating a community where students feel they can dialogue freely and share their ideas. Each school has their own distinct approach to teaching, as well as different mission statements that allow each school to excel in its own way. The question we wanted to explore is, what are the differences between private, public, and religious schools, and what advantages do they each have in providing a “good” education when compared to one another?

We had the opportunity to interview two incredible teachers who have taught in various areas. Ms. LeeAnn Mott started her teaching journey at Smithfield Public Elementary School in Smithfield, Virginia. She then moved to St. James Academy in Solana Beach, California, the Catholic school she has been teaching at for the past twenty-eight years.

The second teacher we interviewed was Ms. Jennifer Fenner who currently works at Pacific Ridge School, a private, secular high school in Carlsbad, California. Before that she worked at the Catholic school Mater Dei High School in Orange County, California.

One aspect that both teachers talked about was the significance of small class sizes. At religious schools, small classes are common, as they create a tight-knit community. Ms. Mott noted, “There’s negatives to small class sizes because you know people too well, but the positive is… people feel like they are noticed and valued.” Despite this, the closeness can cause arguments amongst the students, as they are forced to interact more often. Whereas in larger classes, teachers can separate students easier in case of conflict due to the number of students.

Ms. Mott makes the point that with the larger class sizes there is more collaboration in the classroom because there are more students to participate; however, bigger class sizes can also prevent students’ individual voices from being heard and

causing students to get lost in the chaos. Since there are so many students in a class, individual attention and adaptation to individual learning capabilities is often difficult, especially if class periods are short. Due to these circumstances Ms. Mott observed: “At that school the kids would get held back, so I had seventh graders that were fifteen years old . . . some of the kids I felt like were just waiting to drop out.” Students may lack motivation when their teachers do not have sufficient time and resources to dedicate to their learning, leading them to fall behind in school.

In religious schools it’s often thought that because of the aligning beliefs, it’s easier to get to know people, as you always have aspects of your faith identity. “Initially it’s the religious part that brings maybe seventy five percent of the people together . . . many students here aren’t active Catholics and they . . . think of religion as more of a history class.” Alternatively, at public schools, kids have more options when exploring where they want to belong because there is a more diverse student body. This also heightens opportunities for school spirit, large athletics programs and expansive extracurricular options, which creates a greater sense of involvement and community amongst the students.

Even if the school is just Kindergarten through eighth grade, the community at religious schools continues to expand past graduation when people come back to celebrate religious events, such as the Sacraments and Mass. Ms. Mott has personally experienced this saying, “This is the place I got married, had kids, my mother died when I worked here, so they really embrace you when you have these pivotal moments.” The community and connection created in religious schools seems to be a large motivator for wanting to work there, causing teachers to have a deep devotion to the school and its students.

Though belonging to a community like this is enriching, a critical issue raised by both teachers is the pay disparity and how that affects the quality of education that the faculty and support staff

are able to provide. Teachers at religious schools often have much lower salaries, rooted in the belief that they work for “the glory of God,” as Ms. Mott expressed, which leads to the acceptance of a lower salary, affecting teacher motivation and the resources available to students. Teachers at religious schools also have more responsibilities added to their plate, whereas at a secular school teachers are typically given a specific course load at the beginning of the year.

Ms. Fenner focuses on a different set of expectations for teachers at religious schools, saying “There’s different rules for religious schools: if you are someone who doesn’t live the lifestyle that is outlined and expected of you, you are subject to being let go or fired.” There is an emphasis on adhering to the faith values and expectations, even when outside of school. She says that because of these sometimes controversial standards, there is less job security and more teacher turnover. Religious schools often hire teachers whose beliefs align with the school, decreasing the total pool size of available teachers and making it difficult to find the necessary teaching competencies.

Through these educators’ experiences, it becomes evident that the “good” education a school can offer depends heavily on individual student needs and family values. However, these interviews only explore two perspectives, and are not enough to truly understand the whole picture. The ultimate goal of a quality education remains the same: to provide an enriching, supportive educational experience that prepares students for the world beyond the classroom.

Photos courtesy of Christine Lang, Principal at St. James Academy

Combining Skateboarding with Education

Kady Hawk

The intersection of education and sports is an incredibly powerful way to change the world. Many educational programs in lower-income areas provide some sort of sport and schooling. For example, our partner, the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy, uses soccer as a gateway to young girls’ education. But how are sports and education connected?

Similar to our partner KGSA, Skateistan is a non-profit organization that provides education and empowerment to young minds through skateboarding. They work in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and South Africa. Skateistan was founded in 2009 by Oliver Percovich and now has more than 3,000 participants per week globally.

In an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of Skateistan, Oliver Percovich, we explore the importance of education, sports, and improving our global community.

Education is essential for all young minds; as Percovich said, “Education is . . . the starting point for navigating life and making good choices.” Education has a transformative power over societies, especially those in poverty. It is a building block to equip individuals with new perspectives, knowledge, critical thinking skills, passions, and so much more. It can prepare students for life’s challenges and aid them in finding a pursuit they enjoy, so it must become accessible to young minds.

How do sports relate to education? The opportunity to access knowledge through a community of athletes, with a sport that can bring them all together, can inspire more outreach to new students. Not only does it provide this opportunity, but it also assists them in learning through teaching perseverance.

“Learning is actually hard. Every time you’re learning something, you’re creating new pathways in your brain, essentially. That actually takes a lot of energy and is really difficult to do, and by learning persistence through taking part in sports or doing an activity (like skateboarding) you learn how to overcome that difficulty that you may also have with learning.”

Education is a pivotal pathway for children everywhere. Specifically, education is a powerful resource for low-income children to break the cycle of poverty and change their society forever. However, to break the cycle of poverty, inadequate education is an issue that must be resolved first. Percovich notes, “The hardest thing is breaking out of a cycle where there hasn’t been education.” These children are stuck in a society where they cannot have the gateway to a successful life and change their world because of the motion they are already in. Breaking that cycle is hard, but Skateistan has offered the solution of skateboarding as a gateway, through which it

builds community and empowers learning.

The current situation for education around the world is constantly improving. However, there is still change that needs to be made. Percovich stated, “About 4 out of 10 girls finished primary school 15 years ago. Now, 9 out of 10 girls finish primary school, so we’ve actually come a long way, but that 1 out of 10 is still an enormous number.” It is heartbreaking to think about children who don’t have the ability or access to education. A lack of primary school limits young girls’ opportunities and violates their potential for greatness. Our societies must eliminate poverty and disparity through education and opportunities for younger generations because they represent our future.

What we can do as students and those who have the privilege of easily accessible education is to make connections. Percovich claimed that having a role model or even just an influence can change someone’s mindset, and once again give them motivation to persevere past their difficulties. As he shared at his programs, Percovich observed, “That then helped them because there was peerto-peer learning; they were learning from other children their age that looked up to them...

...Don’t be scared to reach out and make friends with someone from another part of the world. We’re all more similar to each other than we realize.”

All around the world, children deserve the same possibilities. Organizations like Skateistan are providing these possibilities to children everywhere through skating. However, we still face many children who need access to it. We need to come together as a community and fix the more significant issues in our world, and from there, we can focus on smaller ones.

For more information, visit skateistan.org. To read more about the KGSA, see page 4.

Impressed: Teaching Printmaking at the Oxbow School

Thedistinctions between public art and outdoor art are, themselves, the themes that underpin my art practice: access, ownership, and permanence. These three topics raise pertinent questions regarding both public space and art. Who has access to outdoor space? Who has access to art? What factors render places or artworks inaccessible? Who owns the land on which the art is displayed? And in the case of public art, who owns the art? Does permanence in public art hold significance, considering outdoor objects are subject to the elements?

A prevalent misconception about creating public art is that it’s an altruistic gesture, a gift to the people. On the contrary, my creation of thus-far twelve distinct public artworks serves as a means to explore my own questions. In the challenging landscape of New York City, where public greenspaces fall under the jurisdiction of the NYC Parks Department, creating public art becomes an uphill battle. The creation, installation, and insurance of public artworks lack city subsidies. Navigating bureaucratic hurdles, alongside addressing the financial aspects, has taught me that the public art process is inherently interdisciplinary.

Daniele Frazier

Learning to raise funds and engaging with municipal systems at a local level has reshaped my perception of how value is attributed to art. Public artworks aren’t on display for sale or as mere gifts to the public. Their function and worth become conceptual fodder — objects existing for the purpose of contemplation. Imagine: objects existing for ponderance. I find that notion delightfully obsolete. I consider myself an interdisciplinary artist because my works span three-dimensional objects, drawing, writing, performances, and ephemeral installations. My first public artwork, funded by the Emerging Artist Fellowship program at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, resulted in Argyle — a 20-foottall enameled wood monolith resembling the namesake pattern found on sweaters and socks. My second work, Giant Flowers, consisted of five flagpoles with ripstop Nylon windsocks resembling daffodils. Activated by the wind, it demanded much attention and maintenance, prompting me to move next to the park where it was installed. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of NY Parks’ Art in the Parks public art program, I staged Ursus Excursus in Central Park. This one-day art “happening,” open to the public, echoed a life-drawing class, with a human in a

polar bear costume as the subject. The intention was that viewers, at a later date, would question whether the resulting sketches were drawn from a real polar bear, evoking thoughts about the value of the real versus fake in portraying a living thing. A few years later, I created Temporary Red Dot in Highland Park, Brooklyn, my most passive work to date. The 28-foot diameter circle, planted with 3,000 red tulips, bloomed the next spring, seemingly out of nowhere, making it a uniquely ephemeral and apparently author-less installation.

Each of these projects has required diverse knowledge and know-how. While constantly researching and reaching out, I felt, in a way, like I never left school. Making outdoor art means creating something with no precedent. Undertaking projects I don’t necessarily know how to execute means constant learning. As the depth and breadth of my knowledge have grown, I’ve inadvertently taken on the role of a teacher. Like making public art, teaching is not an altruistic act. I believe teachers learn alongside their students, especially evident when I was invited to teach at the Oxbow School in Napa, California. In the twenty-two years since I was a student at Ox-

bow, I worked professionally as a printer at Paulson Fontaine Press, studied traditional photogravure at The Cooper Union, constructed aquatint boxes, and consulted on the building of private intaglio studios. Ironically, despite all of this, my own art practice never involved printmaking of any kind. Returning to Oxbow as a teacher was a huge honor, yet emotionally complicated, sitting at the desk where my mentor once sat.

I spent the flight, as well as my evenings and mornings, reading up on a technique I had not personally practiced in quite a while. What I discovered was that not only the information but the muscle memory of the tactile nature of the process had never left. I spent my free time working on my own copper etchings as a means of practice, generating examples of techniques my students would be using. It was an absolute pleasure to recite phrases and enact demonstrations that Stephen had done for me when I was the age of my students. By the end of the three weeks, seeing my class’s completed works—a huge accomplishment for such a short period— was more inspiring than the evidence that I had taught effectively. I was impressed by their ability to grasp new material and techniques, but I was moved by the content of the work itself. They were concerned with issues of identity, climate change, and how they related to each other and their environment.

Upon returning home, I bought a turn-of-the-

century miniature tabletop etching press from an antiques dealer in London and began restoring broken and missing parts. Collaborating with a local machinist and reaching out to specialty companies for idiosyncratic parts, this interdisciplinary process felt entirely continuous with my sculpture practice. Months later, I found myself with my own press, the first time in 22 years since I learned how to use one. I credit Oxbow for not only reinvigorating my interest in printmaking but also for influencing the type of thinking I encouraged in my students. I asked them to consider why make a print now, in an age where there is zero need for further innovation in image reproduction. What is the purpose of employing a technique designed to make multiples? What is the purpose of doing something pointless? The project I embarked on was, as most of my work is, site-specific. This time, specific to my own home in Chatham, New York, where an active railroad track runs through my backyard. It began by curiously placing coins on the track — a cliché novelty. But it soon progressed to placing other flattenable metal objects on the rails. The most successful and intriguing results were achieved using silver forks and spoons with intricate ornamentation. I began collecting them at local estate sales and thrift stores. I inked them using the traditional techniques typically employed when printing copper plates– hand-wiping oil-based etching inks so that the incised areas held pigment, while the relieved parts would remain blank. The resulting impressions

are strange embossed silhouettes of flatware that document a palimpsest: a synthesis of an action in a public space and a subversion of a traditional technique, manifesting a physical document of a conceptual process; all of which was inspired by learning while teaching. This project, rooted in the intersection of historical printmaking techniques and a conceptual artistic approach, became a testament to the ongoing evolution of my work. It exemplifies the interconnected nature of various disciplines within my practice, showcasing the adaptability and continuous learning that define both my artistic endeavors and teaching experiences. In navigating the realms of public art, interdisciplinary projects, and the pursuit of acquiring and sharing knowledge, my ultimate goal is to blur the distinctions between art and what we call “real” life, living in an amalgamation of experiences and creation.

Article solicited by Kylie

Martindale

Daniele Frazier is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from Mill Valley, California, she graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art in 2007 where she received the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Trust Award. Daniele has created ten unique public artworks and maintains a studio where she makes sculptures and drawings. Her process intersects her interest in formal aesthetics with a research-based and socially-engaged practice. She focuses on themes of ecology, climate change, natural history, art history, and social critique. Daniele’s work humorously addresses the politics inherent to public art itself such as gender inequality, the difference between public and private space, and the definition of ownership.

Daniele has worked extensively with the NYC Parks Department and her work has been shown at The Queens Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, Guild & Greyshkul, Museum 52, Rivington Arms, Ritter Zamet, and Gavin Brown’s Passerby, among others. She has made creative contributions to numerous commercial projects for clients such as Ssense, Tiffany & Co., Trademark, Officine General, Tomorrowland, Coach, Marie Claire, Mémoire Universelle, Behind the Blinds, Nina Ricci, Commons & Sense, and Theory.

Lessons from Across Borders: A Teacher’s Experience with Education Systems Around the World

Education is a crucial part of a child’s upbringing in most cultures, with many of them including further learning into adulthood. When people learn, society succeeds, and when society succeeds, humankind can transform and advance. Educational practices in every country vary from one another in some way, whether it’s simply a change in course material or a completely different structure of schooling.

To understand the complexity of education as it exists in every country, one must experience it in every country. While that in itself is impossible, a select few people have had the opportunity to either teach or learn in multiple cultures.

We contacted one of those people, Mr. Kieran Ridge, who is currently an AP United States History and Journalism teacher at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, California. Some of his students have described him as “extremely passionate and particular in all of the work that he does” (A. Cobb, ‘24). His personal light has sparked passion in several people on campus and will continue to do so as long as he continues working.

Mr. Ridge disclosed that he has worked as an educator in the United States, South Korea, Australia, and briefly as a tutor in Japan. The following is an account of his experiences with education in each country, and his evaluation of each. Mr. Ridge consented to this interview and the creation of this article.

Q: Today, we’ll be conducting an interview with you to investigate your past as a teacher. What other countries have you worked in as an educator?

A: I first started teaching in Australia, and it was a little bit different than my later teaching experience. [When] I was working in that area, two different opportunities to teach for a semester were offered to me: one was in a Lutheran college prep school, and then the other opportunity that came up was to fill in at Boggo Road Jail, which was notoriously the most hardcore prison in that state of Australia at the time. It [was] shut down later because it was considered so brutal. So, I spent a semester teaching inmates there. It was supposed to be a literary class, but we ended up focusing a lot on literacy as well. Then, I taught in Northern California for [11 years], in Marin County, in the San Francisco Bay area. From there, I went to foreign schools. I just thought for my future and my family’s future, I should look to places that were more sustainable economically. I was asked, without applying, if I’d be interested in being

the English department chair at an international school in Songdo, Korea. It also made me think a lot about what some people call global English: in other words, learning a form of English that is accessible and usable around the world, regardless of dialect, regardless of the person’s primary language background. The grammar of Korean and English is really different. I expanded the English as a Second Language (ESL) program pretty aggressively, and the students did really well. They were smart, hardworking students; they just needed opportunity and resources. I taught in Japan as well, but when I was in Japan, I was an AP, SAT, [and] ACT tutor for a while. [After that], I had two teaching gigs. One of them was at a vocational college, so it was people who’ve left high school and then want to become flight attendants, airline workers, things like that. And the other three years were pretty interesting. I was teaching managers and staff at Amazon in Japan at their second biggest office.

Q: Where did you find differences in education approaches between each country?

A: A lot of it has to do with the differences in authority structures, and then the related communication styles in whichever country and culture you’re working in. So, because the communication style and authority structures are different, how do you do the classroom? For example, we have Harkness tables, right? It literally symbolizes that there’s no head. Whereas, when I was teaching in East Asia, people got nervous without a clear hierarchical authority system because they’ve been [taught] since preschool that there’s a time to speak and there’s a time to listen. Even for new employees and companies, they’ll tell you don’t even speak at a meeting until you’ve been there five years. In California, you might not even stay in a job for five years on average.

Q: Was there any specific approach you liked or disliked from a particular country you taught in, including the US?

A: It’s more of a comfort thing. All these countries function, mostly, and then [these] countries have dysfunction, but they all have their version of it. I liked the intense self-motivation of students in East Asia. But what I worried about was how much stress they were putting on themselves. [In California,] I feel like what’s uncomfortable for me sometimes is it’s just too laid back, and we’re trying too many things at the same time. It’s a typical California startup (in reference to Pacific Ridge School). But sometimes I feel like the students and even the adults are in a kind of ev-

erything, everywhere, all at once situation, and, to go deeper, you’ve gotta have some priorities, which means you’re gonna have to let go of some stuff. And that’s not very Californian.

Q: If you could implement any aspect of education from another country to this school, what would it be?

A: My daughter, every day, when she was in public school in Japan for seven years, she and all her fellow students had to clean up the classroom and the corridors. Like the students clean the class every day. The students learn so much respect and teamwork; I think, in some ways, they grew up a bit more. I think California, in some ways, still operates on the labor model that was created during the mission system, and the division of labor troubles me greatly. Certain sectors of society don’t feel like they need to clean up after themselves or get their hands dirty, and that kind of seems colonial, to be quite frank with you. I’d like us to be more cognizant of that, [like] cleaning up after your lunch, rather than saying someone’s paid to do it. But if you make that job ten times harder than it needs to be, that’s the difference between going home with some energy for yourself or going home exhausted.

Overall, Mr. Ridge’s experiences highlight the importance of understanding and respecting the diversity of education systems worldwide. By recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches, we can work towards creating a more equitable and effective global education system.

We would like to give a special thank you to Mr. Kieran Ridge, who kindly offered himself for this interview.

Colt Mullen and Sadie Stern

Students studying at a local coffee shop in San Marcos, California. Photos taken by Kylie Martindale on December 30th, 2023 with a Canon AE-1 using ISO 400 film.

Environmentally Inspired

Dylan Smith

Coastal view of el pochote fishing village

Sarah Otterstrom, founder and executive director of the non profit organization Paso Pacifico, is a conservation scientist with over twenty years of experience in Central America. She founded the organization in 2005 and since then has continued to stay involved with many projects relating to the tropical dry forests and Pacific coast habitats within Central America. Sarah serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Biotropíca, and has served in the Association for Fire Ecology as well as the Sociedad Mesoamericana para la Biología y Conservación. In addition to this, she is an Ashoka Fellow and the recipient of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award.

Paso Pacifico is a non profit organization based in Central America whose purpose is to “build wildlife corridors that protect biodiversity and connect people to their land and ocean.” Their mission is to restore and protect the Pacific Slope ecosystems of Mesoamerica, some of which include the endangered dry tropical forest, mangrove wetlands, and eastern Pacific coral reefs. They work with local communities, landowners, and partner organizations in order to “restore and protect the habitats that form building blocks for wildlife corridors.” Paso Pacifico’s approach aims to protect biodiversity where people already live, and they follow an “iterative process” that helps them choose and implement projects.

Empowering Women for the Sea is a project that focuses on the sustainable farming of wild oysters in the Paso del Istmo (a narrow bridge of land in Central America between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific coast). In this community, oyster harvesting has been a main source of family income since pre-colonial times. Although this has been an important aspect to many locals, overharvesting and poor management practices have continued to push native oyster populations towards extinction. Without the help from Paso Pacifico and the development of the project, the loss of this resource would jeopardize the food security and environmental wellbeing of the town.

In the process of developing the project, it was important to understand the background and the important role of the oysters in the Paso del Istmo community. Oysters were a major food source in pre-Columbian society and continue to be to this day as a traditional way of feeding families. Both women and children collect and harvest oysters on the beaches of the El Ostional region of Nicaragua, specifically the tropical rock oyster. Women have been the ones to harvest oysters for generations, but their methods are seldom organized and much less sustainable. Oysters are relatively hard to find and they can only be harvested at a certain rate before risking depletion. When harvested, the local women tend to pry them off rocks causing damage to the reef. Many of the women shuck the oysters and sell them to men who then sell them to restaurants. The issue with this process is that the women sell the oysters without the shell, which does not meet

high market expectations. After much repetition of the harvesting of oysters, locals realized that it was not sustainable for their ecosystem.

Fortunately, in 2013, women from El Ostional asked Paso Pacifico for technical and financial support in developing an aquaculture farm for the tropical rock oyster. Their idea was to be able to farm local oysters to provide a stable source of food and income, while also restoring native shellfish populations. Through research that was conducted by a consultant named Angie Gerst, it was found that there was a strong potential for the development of a women’s oyster cooperative. It would work to empower women through establishing an industry that would “help them play a stronger role in community leadership.”

After researching and connecting with Sarah Otterstrom, the founder and executive director of Paso Pacifico, she was able to witness the implementation of this project first hand and shared her reflections in an interview.

Sarah saw how these women became more empowered through the project and how they faced certain obstacles to achieve their goals. She says that one of the ways that the women became empowered is that they organized to go to the government and protest against commercial oyster harvesters when they came into town. The commercial oyster harvesters were “out of towners” who came with large refrigerated trucks and diving gear. They supposedly had permits to do this but the women decided to go to the fisheries authority and argued that it was not ok for the commercial harvesters to come and harvest, especially because it was exactly what they were trying to protect. In response to this, the government decided to help “kick the commercial fishers out.” Sarah mentioned that “the women became politically empowered by this as they were trying to protect and stake claim to the oysters.” The women also had to negotiate with male fishers to leave their gear alone in their process, and they learned skills like swimming and boat driving, “so they became empowered in that way too.” Sarah believes the best part about this project is “that it has the potential to combine economic empowerment with sustainable fisheries.”

In 2016, the El Ostional organization celebrated their first harvest of the oysters. As this becomes more of a success, women are continuing to gain “more respect as leaders, fishers, and ocean stewards in their community, and their example is inspiring others.” As the organization develops, the women are beginning to work with neighboring villages in sustainable oyster farming. Paso Pacifico mentions that because they are “armed with sustainable aquaculture and the training they need to run a business, these women will improve their communities and make a difference for the coasts they call home.”

For more information about this and other projets, visit pasopacifico.org

How to Hear in the Middle of Nowhere

Time can be an ugly thing, especially in medicine. It was easy for Deborah to be forgotten, being so elderly and isolated. You see, time worked very differently out in rural Illinois, out near the swampish river and nestled between hills, corn, the sky. There were very few people for acres of land around, making the endless swaths of corn that surrounded the small town quite desolate. Here, insulated by a thick layer of trees and hills, there was no answer to urgency.

For extraordinary diseases, treated with extraordinary means on an extraordinary timeline, there were ways to minimize suffering. If you were forgotten in the midst of scattered rural life, on the other hand, there was nothing.

And how quickly this festered in Deborah’s life. A penny-sized sore seeded on her leg. I often wonder how it had felt for her, to be forced to witness her brittle skin crack around the edges and to the bone. Basal cell carcinomas are some of the most common and treatable forms of skin cancer– if caught early on. If Deborah’s pleas for treatment were heard earlier, her suffering could have been crushed before it took root like an invasive seed. But it had lived on, feeding on the isolation in rural life. There was no one capable of treating her within a hundred miles, and so Deborah’s leg deteriorated. By the time Deborah and her son had reached our clinic after a two hour drive, intensive treatment was immediate. Septic shock had already begun to spread from the exposed bone.

Palliation was in sight.

The morning I met Deborah, she had laid there, shivering, on a metallic stretcher with an oxygen mask. Her mouth moved discordantly when the physician peeled back her pant leg to examine her wound. It wept like a newborn baby, pink and tender. A fear-tinged quake shook the stretcher, and she cried out.

Let her relax. Slow. Steady.

Those who feel pain the worst are those who had to live with it the longest. Neglect almost always invited despair, and with despair came dread. It was as if she foresaw all the pain she would have to bear in a moment, waning her tolerance for it until there was nothing left.

The room was quiet for a moment as we prepared to treat her. I stood in her line of sight, blocking the IV cannula, bandages, antibiotics, and fluids being unwrapped. Deborah’s stabilization was our first priority. The balled-up plastic packaging had crinkled noisily: a bright, sparkly, popping sound in the silence.

Deborah always had good ears, her son had blurt-

ed. His voice was tight and trembling, soft like the wind whistling through the fields of corn outside the window, as he broke the silence. I had just nodded and smiled; it was normal for family members to spill themselves to anyone in the room. Perhaps it felt safer this way, to share the burden of their fear with a stranger in a surreal environment: an unfamiliar room of robotic sterility that felt fussy in comparison to the brutality of death and pain that permeated the building. From him, I learned that Deborah had once been a nurse in this hospital before retiring to the town where she had grown up. After a lifetime of long shifts and codes, she had found the familiarity to be merciful. Her favorite thing to do was to listen: to the forest breathing at night, corn stalks crackling under her feet, cicadas singing in the summer heat. Briefly, I had wondered how I could bear it all: the weight of his love and admiration for his mother, how freakishly grateful and ordinary his voice was, how easily Deborah could have avoided all of this if only she was listened to. I couldn’t help but watch as a nurse prepared her IV, wiping her papery, translucent skin with an alcohol pad. Her eyes quivered in their sockets at the cold sting, and she groaned.

Pause. Breathe.

The nurse sought the first vein and pushed the needle forward, stepping back when the first flash of blood flooded the cannula’s chamber. I watched as her blood pressure began to rise.

The afternoon light sifted through the corn, turning the golden stalks red and orange. The fields rippled as another gust of wind shook the skies, clearing the clouds to bathe the soil in one last glow of autumn warmth. Her son had cracked the window slightly while we waited for the nurse to finish.

Perhaps it was too little too late, but we listened quietly in that moment: to the birds, the breeze, the people laughing in the parking lot outside the window. Deborah’s breathing was stronger now, slower. For a moment, I could hear a vast universe of hope in her: an eye-watering crescendo of relief that she had finally been heard. That she had not been forgotten in her community. And oh, was this notion loud to me. It was as if I had heard everything about medicine at an arm’s length, a mile’s stretch away my whole life. But here was Deborah, her preventable condition screaming volumes for change, progress, because it did not have to come to this, at the cusp of my ear. I never saw Deborah again after they transferred her to a larger clinic, but I hoped that she had recovered enough to sit among the stars and trees again.

But most of all, I wished that she had been heard sooner.

It should be remembered that rural communities are a way of life for millions of Americans. And yet, we as young, pre-medical students often turn away from these populations, leaving them forgotten in the beautiful and fast-paced chaos that is medicine. I think that it’s easy to forget that every single person on this planet is sincerely afraid of being alone to face whatever comes next, be that in their treatment or their lives. But in rural communities especially, these fears are often left neglected. None of it is easy, but I don’t walk around solemnly in my local rural hospital, dwelling over each missed opportunity or grieving family member. But I can listen to them. I can share the weight of their palpable fear and love. I can be Deborah, listening to learn how to shape the vast world around us for the better. Sometimes, being heard can make all the difference.

Cindy Mu is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She was featured in “What I fight for,” a Malala Fund video series where young women share the big and small reasons they’re fighting for change and what they hope to protect through their activism.

Cindy Mu

A Conversation with a Tea Scholar

Abigail Qiu

Adelicate fragrance of jasmine floated into the air as I slowly sipped the freshly brewed tea according to the directions I was given. It is said that you cannot gulp it down like water as it will hurt your health. For the tea to be digested properly, we must 工夫茶, which means “take time with tea.“ During the brewing process, Zhangbo Zhang (Bob) took a small wooden scoop of dried tea leaves and placed them into the purple clay teapot. When he poured the hot, but not quite boiling water into the pot, I felt a layer of aroma in the steam that slowly lingered past my nose. Then, Bob passed me a small teacup and instructed me to tap my fist on the table to show my appreciation when being served.

I first heard of Bob during a relaxing sunset walk with my father. He was telling me that his new renter was really into tea–how he collected only the finest tea leaves and knew of several rituals to capture the various essences of the teas. Tea is an art of Chinese culture to the extent that some dedicate their leisure time to studying the his-

tory, preparation, and intricate nuances of consumption. Bob was one of these scholars, owning a haven dedicated to this ancient art form in his very own kitchen. In the middle of his table, next to a captivating stack of books, sat a wooden tea ceremony tray with ceramic and glass cups.

As he prepared to serve me several types of tea, he introduced me to the history of this practice. Tea is both a facet of Chinese culture and a Chinese medicine. It has many variations and comes from numerous places. Only the most beautiful mountains and nutritious water can produce quality tea. You only need to know which mountain and water it was cultivated from to know if the tea is of good quality. There is a proverb in Chinese, 一方水土一方人, meaning tea like water is very personal and local to people. In extreme cases, drinking the wrong tea can hurt and sicken you. That’s why Bob recommends that I start with 冻顶乌龙 (Frozen Tip Oolong tea) since it is a mild and gentle tea. The one I drank was specifically harvested during April around the Tomb Sweep Festival (清明节). Depending on when the tea was harvested, Spring or Fall, the tea will take on a different taste.

At Bob’shis age, he likes 普洱茶 (Pu’er tea) from the 云南 (Yunan) province of China. It’s a fermented and mildly warm tea, perfect for

the winter seasons. It’s heavy and can be steeped many times which is good if you want to have company over. Tea is also a way to show respect, especially in social gatherings and in business development. Bob tells me that he has completed countless business negotiations with the incorporation of tea into his deals.

Furthermore, he tells me that the very tip of the leaves has the most nutrition and flavor.Even the ancient way of writing “tea” in Chinese displays the shape of the tip of the tea leaves: 茶 In Chinese medical terms, it has the most qi (life force) because it’s closest to the seed. Since Chinese medicine focuses on healing the body to prevent sickness, a good hand-picked tea is much more valuable and expensive when compared to industrialized tea. In Chinese medicine, the focus is on preventing disease before it happens, rather than healing it after it has done its damage.

Tea contains qi and positive energy for your body and drinking tea naturally boosts your health in addition to being a method for social gathering. It has a natural ability to decrease inflammation, depression, diabetes, and cancer, which is unique to the long history of Chinese civilization. Tea is more than a simple drink, it is a culture that has been intertwined into the Chinese lifestyle for centuries past and centuries forward.

Bob’s tea ceremony tray

The Need for the Representation of Women in Athletic Research

As a volleyball libero, my job is to beat the ball. I am a defensive specialist who trains to prolong each rally, ensuring that every attack that falls on our side has the opportunity to fly back over the net to the opponent. I dive across the court, I am quick to react to an opposing player’s spikes, I do not waver under the pressure of making a save. Though I find fulfillment in my pursuit on the court, my body reacts with distress. Coming home with bruises and burns on my limbs and enduring the strain on my muscles when I wake up the next morning, I feel the physical demands of the sport I love. Two fractures later, the pain led me to research: How can I help my body recover? When I scoured the web for studies that illustrate how to safely train as a young teenage girl, most volleyball studies featured male athletes and overlooked the nuances of a developing girl’s body. It turns out that the biomechanics of the female body only worsened injuries.

However, it was not until I had experienced irregular periods that I finally figured out the right questions to ask. Menstrual irregularities cause hormonal fluctuations that are tied to the poor development of bone mass. Without stable hormone function, my bones would weaken, and injuries would occur more easily. Yet, so many of the reputable sites did not lead with any of this information. Why is there a lack of women’s representation in research?

The first instance of organized sports for ambitious athletes is often recognized as the Olympic games held in Greece in 776 BCE. Competitors tested their physical abilities, stretching their bodies to their utmost potential. Greek men gathered from surrounding city-states to participate for an opportunity to earn great dignity and recognition for their communities. At that time, all events were promoted to males, and women were denied participation in the games, with married women denied viewership (Gill). In 1896, the Olympic Games were revived, but again, women were still barred. When women were able to participate in the second modern Olympics four years later, the International Olympic Committee added only 2 female events (Wood).

When juxtaposing the Olympic ideal of unity with the deliberate marginalization of half the population, our modern perspective of the Greek display of social harmony is invalidated. Hence, we find a discrepancy that has carried into the present, targeting an entire facet of identity and undermining the integrity of the ancient practice our society continues to draw inspiration from.

Women have made extraordinary advances in athletics despite the imbalance of female recog-

Abigail Qui

nition. Icons like Simone Biles, who became the most decorated American gymnast, and Serena Williams, who holds the most grand slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, stand as a testament to female excellence in sports (Cash). Still, women received less than 10% of total media coverage even when representing over 40% of professional sports players in 2022 (Bubel). Furthermore, women at the college level received approximately 60,000 fewer participation opportunities than men in the three NCAA divisions in the 2017-2018 season (Gibson). More women than ever are playing sports and competing at high-level athletic events, yet the opportunities for female athletes to showcase their abilities are low.

Not only are girls underrepresented as subjects of research but women also comprise a minority of roles in the sports science industry. Female authorship in scientific publications is less than 25% (Martínez-Rosales), and women account for less than 25% of leadership positions on editorial boards in sports sciences. Moreover, only a small percentage of women enter sports care medicine fields (Mattson).

The justification for a lack of equal media coverage from large corporations and a lack of women in authoritative positions in sports medicine fields frequently fall back on economics: sponsors believe that women’s sports are not profitable and therefore there is less money being put toward women’s events. This would lead to less interest in women’s sports overall. While lower viewership is the claim sporting corporations’ use as grounds for less funding, numbers from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics easily refute this point as women’s gymnastics drew peak audience numbers: 59% of all viewers (Kennedy). Thus, the belief that women’s sports are less appreciated is unfounded.

The fact is, if research institutes receive inadequate funding, they are unable to obtain the necessary facilities to conduct the research and therefore unable to offer pivotal findings to the public. The same issues hold for the infrastructure and personnel that support these young women: doctors, dieticians, and trainers all require proper funding. In improving fairness in monetary distribution for funding and wider media representation, younger generations of female athletes can grow up watching their role models succeed in the sports that they love, thereby increasing female interests in sports, be it in participation, research, or medicine.

From training programs to specialized equipment to nutrition guidelines and injury prevention, women have been unable to receive am-

ple direction in these areas to help them thrive. From 2014 to 2020, only 6% of studies on performance and sports were conducted exclusively on women (Yu). This disproportion highlights that women constantly rely on research that fails to account for their unique biology. We women assume these findings as gospel because it is our only option.

When I visited two specialized doctors due to injuries from gymnastics and volleyball, the doctors were both male, and their questions for diagnosis were general and lacking in female-specific questions. My recovery time was lengthy. Meanwhile, my brother suffered similar fractures, and his recovery was rapid.

Gender-targeted questions are key to determining the correct path to take during recovery because women react differently to stress on their bodies based on the stage of their menstrual cycle. Their hormone levels vary frequently, meaning that certain training regimens that are designed for a male’s stable hormone levels cannot be applied to a female whose needs are constantly changing per week (Nguyen).

Research on the effects of women overtraining and undereating found that they suffered from problems such as poor bone health and poor hormone health. Those performing prolonged periods of strenuous exercise show recurring signs of energy deficiency and low energy availability (Collado-Boira et al.). In reaction, women’s bodies protest by shutting down vital life functions like menstruation and converting to a “survival mode” where the female body maintains only the basic physiological processes such as breathing (Hypothalamic Amenorrhea). With females representing 50% of the population, why do so few studies address methods that women could use to safely train their bodies and prevent injury from happening in the first place? Current research acts as a bandaid to compensate for the injury when it could have been avoided with proper preparation. The low awareness surrounding the consequences of improper fueling, despite its significance on the livelihood of young female athletes, presents an urgent concern that warrants action for both advocacy and additional research on the female body.

The lack of comprehensive research means that developing girls who are engaging in vigorous training are forced to experiment on their own with nutrition, muscle building, and strength and speed training. If more research can be conducted that accounts for the female body’s unique qualities and the factors mentioned above, women have stronger guidelines that would allow them to experience better performance. As younger

girls and women alike learn to create ideal training regimes backed by new verified studies, they can significantly lower their risk of future burnout (Valle).

Following the prime participation of women in sports and medicine bodies, the government should implement regulations for proper funding that would address bias in publicized settings. When searching for methods to promote female inclusion in sports medicine, consider approaching gender bias starting in young children, urging funding from major sponsors, encouraging women to achieve authoritative roles in sports medical organizations, and creating the possibility for a positive impact on developing athletes. At all stages of research before and leading to publication, enhancing the quality and abundance of female input opportunities will create greater insight into better performance for all athletes.

When speaking about any sport, the assumed gender is men, unless it is preceded by the word “women”: we are habituated to specifying women’s sports whereas, with men, they are still regarded as the default (Bubel). Women have been marginalized in athletics for centuries and we can only help support active women when we understand their unique physiology and needs. Especially in adolescence, teens need the latest research on how their hormones can affect or hinder athletic performance. If the majority of females continue to be kept in the dark about research about their bodies, then they will be unable to learn how to prevent the consequences of improper training and from injuring themselves further. However, increasing the funds available for athletic studies through support from sponsors, private industries, and the government is a necessary step in creating fairness for everybody in the sports field and increasing research on exclusively women’s bodies. In doing this, we raise the quality of women’s sports and research to be equal to that of men’s—with no repercussions for the latter.

To combat the plethora of problems that has started from a glaring gender gap in sports leading to a scarcity of research and funding, we and the government need to ensure that we are supporting all female athletes and treating them equally to their male peers. Once the emerging generation learns to embrace inclusivity in sports, we can foster an environment where every athlete feels defined in research and has the opportunity to physically thrive. After all, since the first Olympics in Ancient Greece, we have made considerable progress in redefining the landscape of sports and achieving multiple strides toward gender equality.

I can only hope that the next time I or another girl gets injured, our female attributes do not hinder our odds of receiving the comprehensive research, support, and understanding necessary for our recovery and continued success in sports.

Abigail Qui playing volleyball

Kibera Girls Soccer Academy

Prudence Indeche

Kibera girls Soccer Academy (KGSA) is a secondary school located in the midst of the world’s second largest slum in Kibera. KGSA offers free secondary education to students from humble backgrounds. The school is a platform where talents are exposed and nurtured through provision of skills in different fields that is: journalism, computer, drama, beauty, catering, entrepreneur and tailoring clubs. I’m in tailoring club, and I joined the club in order to get skills and knowledge in designing since my future career is to be an interior designer. So far, so

good; I have gained knowledge and skills in making pencil bags and I can confidently sew a pencil bag without any supervision. Truly, KGSA is like a factory that has equipped me and is continuing to equip me with more knowledge and skills that at the end of the four years in school, I would come out as useful product in society.

View of the KGSA terrace.

Baringo County, Kenya

Ibrahim

My name is Ibrahim. I live in the upcountry in a sub county called Eldama Ravine in Baringo county. I am in the 10th grade and I live with my parents. Schooling in the upcountry is so fun but has challenges too. I live far from our high school and I wake up early since I have to be in

school by 6:00 in the morning. There is plenty of food where I live since we are farmers. There are beautiful waterfalls and the nature is breathtaking. I would like to become a professional singer once I am done with school. I like playing soccer during my free time or listening

to music. My mother is my role model since she takes care of us and I really look up to her. I would encourage people to plant trees and visit the upcountry in order to learn more on how the world is beautiful.

Ibrahim in his school uniform

MaryAnn Achieng

Mishelle Atsieno

Blessing Kaluhi

Zenah Ali and Prudence Indeche

Cancer as a Chronic Disease

Salima Amisa Hussein

Amajor health challenge in the world today is cancer, which kills more people than AIDS. The death rate is set to rise in the upcoming years. Over the world, 57 million people have lost their lives in 2008. In Kibera , the largest slum in Kenya being the leading with people infected with cancer. Most people af-

fected with cancer are the women and the young girls. They are mostly affected with breast cancer and cervical cancer. In Kibera, treating cancer is an issue and a problem to the people with cancer. In some cases, the insurance card may be denied in some hospitals, so families struggle to raise money to treat their sick

patient.When a father is affected with cancer, the family will be depressed because he is the head of the family. We pray to the Almighty GOD to help us fight this chronic disease. AMEN.

LET’S STAND TOGETHER AND FIGHT CANCER.

Water in Kibera

There are many households in the world that are lucky to have clean water in their houses. The case is so different in Kibera, a slum located in Nairobi, Kenya.

Water is a basic human want and a source of life, but for residents of Kibera, water shortage and scarcity is a problem that is not new. It is a problem that people live with.The main source of water is from taps. Water is expensive and the vendors are sometimes so rude. The pipes are located underground and most of them left open on the grounds. The case gets worse when it rains as there are so many pipe leakages which cause diseases. Water borne diseases are so common in Kibera. Most of the people try treating water with chlorine and boiling water before drinking. As much as this is a challenge, I really want to study smart and try researching on how best I can help conquer this challenge and ensure that at least 90% of people living in Kibera get access to water.

Mary Nagawa

Brigid Anne

Mary Mboya

What We Can Achieve and What We Can Offer

Charity Nabwaya

Lack of confidence can hinder a lot of things. Ranging from how you get ahead in your career to the number of skill you are able to acquire, it is a determining factor in the way you direct career. Con-

fidence is conveyed from inner to outer through the words you speak and the posture you assume. Building confidence is not one day affair, neither does it take other people to build your confidence.

Hi! I’m Loreen and I am 16 years old. I come from Africa continent, Kenya, Nairobi. In Africa, there are 54 countries and each country has its own interesting stories. In Africa traditional societies, which were in the past, education method used was the informal one. Since there were no schools for the children to attend to they were taught by their parents and relatives the basics about life. Example the girls were taught by their

mothers, aunts and grandmother how to cook, do house chores, and tend to young children and how to make a home. While the boys were taught by their fathers, uncles and grandfathers on how to hunt safeguard their homesteads; look after livestock and making tools. Children would sit under trees to wait for their grandfather to tell them stories. Every story had a lesson and would instill moral value in them to make them

responsible people in the society. In the past Africans believed it was important to live according to their culture. They used holy places for worshiping their God. They also had so many superstations and followed their tradition rule in anything. Due to world evolution and technological advancement, many African countries have developed in all areas and they are doing so well in different fields.

Loreen Kasivwa

Loreen Kasivwa

Fun

Sheryl Samantha

Always be truthful, no matter what happens. Always believe in yourself and everything will be possible. Don’t listen to what people say, always listen to your heart and take the right decisions.

If you trust in GOD, just believe and say YES I CAN

Inpsiration

Lonah Lombo

If you say you can do it, indeed you can. If you don’t put more effort, nobody will back you up.

You can reach your goal if you set your mind on it.

Life is a battle; the world is your arena.

Dream while others are wishing. Relax while others are playing. Read while others are sleeping. BE UNIQUE.

Motivation

Mary Akinyi

Always keep trying until you get what you want.

Just always remember the song of “ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh, try everything ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh, try everything. I won’t give-up no I won’t give-in till I reach the end then I start again no I want a life, I want to try everything, I want to try even though I could fail.”

Sarah Mong’Ote

When you come up short a challenge, it is important not to give up and just stop there. But to look at what happened and think about how you could overcome a similar problem in future.

Abigael Naeku Mailyi

Arise and shine to the world! Mistakes make me learn better. Life is not always easy but the challenge makes me stronger.

Brigid Ann

Being wise is better than being strong, yes knowledge is more important than strength. After all, you must make careful plans before you fight a battle, and the more you are likely to win.

Grace Tabu

No matter how tough the situation is always go forward never look back. And never give up. If we must die, let it not be like hags. Life is like a trip, the problem is we don’t know the road to reach our destination; we need to search the route to reach our destination.

NEVER GIVE UP

Ann Sieku

It’s okay to make mistakes and things to go wrong; what’s more important is that you have the right recovery from it. If you react to set back well, nobody will remember the mistake.

Blessing Kaluhi

No matter what you do people will always find a reason to criticize you.

Bring your enemy a chair cause they won’t stand to see you prosper in life.

Doing your best is more important than being the best.

Mary Nagawa

Achieng

I aspire to be educated, inspired and empowered before I expire because this is what Kibera Girls Soccer Academy nurture us as girls to be. We have good teachers and social worker who shows and tells us the right things to do and how to handle different situations that as girls undergo. They make us feel comfortable and appreciated. As the saying goes east or west, home is the best and I say Kibera Girls Soccer academy is the best.

One of the best gift you can give to a child is to make them aware of the immense opportunities the future holds and instill in them a sense of self respect, belief and confidence.

My silence is not because I don’t know what to say, it’s because I know how damaging my words can be.

I urge you not to wish to be anything but what you are. Try to be your perfect self always, be the authentic version of yourself not someone else’s photocopy.

Siama Musa

Classmates Clavian and Sylvia

My name is Tabitha Paul. I am from Kenya. I study in Kibera Girl Soccer Academy, I am an imaginative girl. I like singing and writing songs. My best hobby is swimming. I started singing when I was in grade one. My life has been interesting. I have written some songs about my life. I would like one day to publish one of my songs. My favorite subject is Mathematics I also like playing musical instruments like guitar. My mother motivates me always, my friends encourages me. I like networking, when am done with my studies I will like to be a musician or a doctor. I believe that through hard work I can open the doors to success.

Mary Mboya

If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Team work matters a lot in human’s livelihood.

Tabitha Paul

Dorothy (School Goalkeeper)

Sheila Kwamboka

Mary Akinyi

Turuphena Mamii

Botul Ramadhan

Sarah Mongote

Salima Amisa

Loreen Kasivwa

Sheryl Ochieng

Grace Tabu

Ania Cuevas Dorantes

Labrinth Within

Never alone when in their presence. Mercurial thoughts alight or dim.

Your soul now covered in its essence. Momentarily close your eyes; dream.

Another life perhaps constructively was true. Present time pressures the hollow of what lost.

Acrimony inescapable once it blew.

Solemnly gaze at your heart covered in frost.

Although one might reach eternal perplection our own void might cause our further astray. Amort our moon yet it aurifies directions, it´s the ambivalence of life that leads our way.

various

terested in psychology, philosophy, and literature, and aspires to contribute to the world by giving her best to people and touching their hearts.

María Fernanda Velasco Marchesin

Those golden hour threads reflecting throughout the great blue and the cozy light hugging the field with the drizzle of the puff gray giving life to those who didn’t ask for it

I can yell my feelings out loud and maybe some might hear but if i didn’t, Is the noise even existent? Have I made a difference?

I sit surrounded by my mother’s creations noise of wind brushing my face, making me tear realizing how the greatest minds are not remembered

the most charming views aren’t admired and my famous siblings aren’t known It’s hopeless to be everyone’s teacher and to learn everything there is to know I can’t expect to be the center of the universe when those who live in a cave have never met the sun

My mother, she who’s not a wife she and I, we speak a broken language

To Leave a Mark

she knows me and the feelings I haven’t yelled she keeps the flood my eyes drop and admires the demons of my rage I could swim against the flow of the longest river or change the north pole to the south I could bring eternal life for all men to be gods, or take the devil back home

But no matter the words I yell or the tears that my eyes drop no soul will mind the effort made, no mark will ever be left

So let me keep in my memory the picture of the sun ending this day the music of the wind running into my hair since my memory is the only place where my mark will ever be left

Ania Cuevas Dorantes is 16 years old and was born in Mexico City and grew up in Puerto Vallarta. She lived two years in Vietnam engaging with

cultures. She is deeply in-

María Fernanda Velasco Marchesin was born and raised in Puerto Vallarta. Her family taught her to love reading and appreciate nature, and she draws inspiration from Puerto Vallarta and its surrounding environment.

Corazón de Poeta

Carla Andrea Castro Rosas

Original Spanish Version

Puede que el alma tenga negra

Y que mi voz haya cambiado,

Pues de malas experiencias me he rodeado

Pero mi corazón de poeta sigue ahí enterrado

¿Quién soy?

Probablemente no lo sepas

O tal vez sí, pues escuchaste de mis poemas

Soy lo que dicta mi corazón de poeta

Podré tener una máscara

Que me haga ver transparente y superficial

Pero cuando mi lápiz roza el papel

No hay más que pura verdad

No puedo negar lo que mi cuaderno habla

Ni olvidar de mi amor incondicional

Puedo ser otra persona

Mas no puedo olvidar que de tus ojos hay solo un par

Y hoy le pregunté a mamá

Si era difícil de amar

Ella dijo que no

“Solo eres más profunda que los demás”

¿Qué condena estaré pagando yo?

Para no ser capaz de soltar

A quien un día me prometió “sempiterno”

Y al día siguiente se marchó sin más que dar

Pero esta es mi condena

Pues nací con corazón de poeta

Y durante mi cadena perpetua

Atan mis manos a la libreta para escribir sobre la belleza de tu alma

Y la decepción de mis penas

Sin más que decir me voy

Dejando a mi niña interior esperando

Con la esperanza de tu regreso, Mi corazón de poeta

Aún no te ha olvidado.

Translated English Version

It may be that my soul is black

And that my voice has changed,

For I’ve surrounded myself with bad experiences

But my poet’s heart still lies buried there

Who am I?

You probably may not know

Or perhaps you do, for you’ve heard of my poems

I am what my poet’s heart dictates

I may wear a mask

That makes me seem transparent and superficial

But when my pencil caresses the paper

There is nothing but pure truth

I cannot deny what my notebook speaks

Nor forget my unconditional love

I can be someone else

Yet I cannot forget that of your eyes, there is only but a pair

And today I asked mom

If it was hard to love

She said no

“You are just more complex than the others.”

What sentence am I suffering?

To not be able to let go

Of someone who once promised me “evermore”

And the next day they left without giving any more

But this is my sentence

For I was born with a poet’s heart

And during my life condemn

My hands are bounded to a notebook to write about the beauty of your soul

And the disappointment of my sorrows

With nothing more to say, I go

Leaving my inner child waiting

Hoping for your return,

For my poet’s heart

Has yet to forgot

Carla Andrea Castro Rosas is 15 years old and was born in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. She discovered her passion for writing when she was 7 years old.

The Stairwell

It was a warm autumn afternoon, the sun was setting low in the rearview mirror as she finally arrived back to her childhood home. For a moment she just sat there, waiting inside her car. She felt the immense need to leave again, drive away from that horrendous house filled with too many memories and never look back. However, Maxine was a smart girl, and knew that she had to return to the house at some point, leaving for 6 years had not helped erase the memories of it. She needed to go inside and face the echoes of the past that she had tried so hard to bury deep inside her mind.

Finally, after hesitating for a long time whether or not to go in, Maxine got out of the car and started walking towards the house. The building did not look as creepy as she thought it would. After years of being abandoned and after the things that had happened inside those walls, the house’s upstanding condition seemed unfitting. She took a deep breath and decided to go in. The first thing she noticed was the stairs leading up to her dad’s and her own bedroom. God how those stairs had plagued her nightmares and would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life. Maxine decided not to go upstairs, not yet at least, she had a lot of things to check out before needing to do so.

She first headed to the kitchen, hidden from the rest of the house, craving the solitude that little room had always given her as a kid. The air of the whole building was suffocating from years of remaining closed and inhabited. She began to feel nauseated and headed directly to open the kitchen windows, not even taking the time to take in her surroundings. There was no sound nor other apparent smell except for that of rotting wood as she walked towards the window and the clotted aura that seemed to envelop the whole house and made her feel as if she was still dreaming, still stuck in that nightmare. When she pulled the glass open however, the spell dissipated. The remaining rays of sunlight filtered through the aperture and the fresh air from the oncoming night hit her face at once. Maxine could hear the wind rustling the tree leaves yet no other sound could be made out, no crickets nor the bluebirds that were always chirping back in the day when she was still a child.

A chill shook her entire body at the thought, she whirled around to have a look at the room and try to distract herself from the uneasiness the lack of sound brought to her. The kitchen was exactly the same as she remembered, the wooden aisle in the middle crafted by her dad, much like every other thing in the house. She then started to look around the place, opening every cabinet or drawer available trying to find something, what exactly she did not know. Maxine opened a cabinet which used to be full of her dad’s beloved hand-

crafted tableware. It was naive of her to expect to find them sitting there as they used to, but she held onto that childish hope. When the cabinet door swung open however, she let out a screech that contrasted the utter stillness of the place. Instead of finding the old tableware, the cabinet had been fully vacated and was now filled with ugly white worms, they moved unnaturally and contorted their bodies in a twisted, sick manner.

Slamming the cabinet’s door closed, Maxine immediately ran out of the house through the kitchen´s backdoor. Once outside, she started to dry heave, nothing coming out as she had not eaten anything for hours, not thinking herself able to stomach anything down with the nervousness she felt at going back to her old house. “Well, at least this way I didn’t puke all over the garden,” she bitterly mused. The heaving was not stopping though, her panic rising by the minute. It was becoming increasingly difficult to suck air into her lungs, Maxine was really starting to grow worried. “This is it,” she thought. “This is how I die. In this damned house just like he did.” Just as her vision was starting to blur however, she saw something that spiked her attention even amidst her panic. Her dad’s workshop could be seen from where she was crouched down retching air, standing out from the forest trees that circled the property. Seeing the old abandoned shack brought an immediate sense of relief, soothing her panic and slowly allowing her to breathe again.

Once she got enough air back into her lungs, Maxine started to approach the cot. Earlier caution forgotten, she basically started sprinting towards the small shack, just how she used to do when little. The door swung open and she came to a halt. If the rest of the house looked exactly the same as when she left, the workshop was a pinpoint replica. All of her father’s unfinished projects were just where he had left them. However, a wood carving she had never seen before sat in the middle of the table, as she crept close to it, she noticed what the small sculpture was. It was a beautifully crafted oak tree, her favorite. Max picked the small craft to examine it, the details fascinating her, her father’s ability to make beautiful things out of dead trees was something that had always fascinated her as a kid, and looking at the little oak figure, she still felt mesmerized by it.

When she turned the figurine around to see the rest of the details, she almost broke down crying. “Henry’s little girl” it read. Maxine was overwhelmed by the wave of grief that swept through her body, the feeling drenching her bones and making her want to sob. She brought her trembling hands up to her face to stop the tears pooling in her eyes from falling. God how she wanted her dad to be right there, sitting in his chair he would spend hours crouching over trying to get his latest work to look just right, that expectant smile splitting his face in hopes of get-

ting his daughter’s passionate, loud approval. For all that her father used to call her strong, at that moment she felt everything but, so frail and weak that the softest gust of wind could blow her over. She knew why she had never seen this piece, this beautiful oak tree crafted just for her, meant to be a gift but never delivered. Her dad never got the chance to give it to her just like she never got the chance to hug him again.

Drying the tears that managed to escape, Maxine placed the wooden piece inside her sweatshirt’s pocket and stepped out of the shack. No longer wanting to tarnish the fond memories she had of the place by crying. Scarcely aware of her surroundings, she slowly walked back into the house, almost as if she was in a trance. Max didn’t register entering the kitchen and walking back into the living room until she was standing in front of the focus of her nightmares. When she looked up the stairs all she could see was her father’s limp body, hanging from a rope tangled on the wooden rails, also crafted by him just like every other rotten object in the house. His neck was twisted in a blood-curdling manner, unnatural, sick and perverted just like the white worms on the cabinet. Blood was now dripping from his ears, eyes swollen and dull with a purplish dead hue.

Instead of screaming like she had with the worms, or crying like she had with the wooden carving sitting in her pocket, Max just stood there and took in the image that she knew was ingrained into her brain. She had been seeing the same picture for the past 6 years everytime she dared close her eyes. Maxine could feel her dad’s dead eyes boring into her skull, as if expectant of her next move. All she did was sit down the stairs, back facing the horrendous image, she took out the little oak tree her father had crafted for her, his last work before taking his own life. She felt exhausted, “Maybe I’m still stuck in a nightmare, or just hallucinating from the lack of food and sleep,” she thought. Max fell asleep like that, head nuzzled in the space between the stair railings, hand caressing the details of the wooden figurine and still trying to convince herself that it was all in her head.

When she woke up, the sun rays were already filtering through mite-bitten curtains. She quietly got up and walked out the front door, not daring looking back in case the bloody scene was still behind her. Once outside, Max quietly got into her car and started it up. The engine was a comforting rumble beneath her; it tethered her to reality and secured that she was truly awake. She began driving away from her childhood home with no thought in mind, one hand on the wheel and the other one still brushing against the carved piece of wood safe inside her pocket. From the rearview mirror, the house began growing smaller and smaller the further she got, until it was no longer possible to see. She never did go up those stairs.

Natalia Ruiz León is 18 years old. She is interested in creative writing and is constantly exploring new genres and techniques to improve her writing skills and share her stories with others.

Long ago, around the 1870s, near the Japanese coast of Tokushima, there was said to be a little island not very far away from the mainland. This small cay, although apparently very easy to access, was never visited by any of the locals since they all feared the place. Not the most adventurous explorers, the most passionate scientists nor the most experienced sailors dared step on it, as it was said that those who ventured into it were never seen again.

However, when Takashi Shirogane, a brave young soldier who fought in the Boshin War, heard about this island, he set his mind to finally see what the whole ordeal was about. Shiro was born in the neighboring city of Wakayama, and had just moved to Tokushima after the war had ended as he had grown bored of his life without the adrenaline that fighting in the war had brought to him. So, when he heard about this island that all the locals seemed to cower away from, he decided it was the perfect opportunity to bring some excitement to his life. Against the warnings from the locals and the stubbornness of the sellers, as they all refused to sell him any type of boat as soon as they learnt where he planned on sailing, Shiro was able to get ahold of an abandoned little raft which miraculously still managed to float and he set sail to the mystical island.

As Shiro approached the island, which he discovered was no farther than 20km away from the city’s shoreland, he began to feel something uneasy from it, as if the island itself was emanating uncomfortable waves of fear to him in an attempt to keep him away. Yet, he did not let himself be deterred by it, and continued to paddle until he could step foot on the small piece of land. When he did, he noticed the lack of sound coming from the island, not even the waves lapping at his feet seemed to create any noise and he noticed a certain density to the island´s air, as if no one had breathed it in a very long time.

Amidst that seemingly perpetual silence, Shiro heard an awful shriek coming from what he believed was the cay´s center, and instead of grabbing his half destroyed raft and getting as far away from the island as he could, he broke into a run after that horrid sound. As he ventured further into the land’s trees, he noticed that he really could not hear any other sounds, not even his own footsteps as he ran, stepping on fallen leaves and branches. Shiro wondered if maybe he was dreaming, he felt as if he were having a nightmare he could not wake up from, yet he kept running towards that sound.

When he finally arrived at a clearing in the cen-

Japanese Cay

ter of the island, the shrieking stopped, and Shiro noticed that there, in the middle of the clearing, stood a woman. Shiro did not recognize her and he felt unnerved as she seemed to be looking straight past him, no recognition in her eyes of the fact that someone else had stepped into the glade she found herself on. As unnerved as Shiro was by her, the woman seemed harmless enough, so he spoke up, asking her if she was okay, yet the woman still seemed to be out of it. When he was about to ask again, the woman let out the quietest whimper, one he would not have heard if not for the lack of any other sounds on the island. And as he stepped forward to check up on the now frail-looking female, she let out a deep guttural sound that could not possibly be produced by anything human. Shiro tried to break into a sprint away from that woman and the unnatural noises she was making, but before his feet could even begin to respond, the woman disappeared, and with her, any sound.

The former soldier then decided he had had enough adrenaline for a lifetime and decided to go back to his little raft and paddle back to the city, far away from this tormentous island. He started walking back to the shore, and yet again he could hear no sounds, not his footsteps, not the wind rustling the tree leaves, not even his own breathing. A tremendous feeling of relief washed over him as he realized his transport was still lying there in the middle of the sand, completely untouched. He set sail back to Tokushima and was about halfway when he noticed the sound and regular air returning to him, at first he had been glad to finally be able to go back to normal, until everything seemed to become too much for him. The little waves crashing against the raft sounded like firearms were going off next to Shiro´s ears, and eventually the air he had missed so much appeared to fill his lungs exceedingly, he felt them expanding unnaturally large, closely exploding. It was then Shiro realized he, just like anyone else who had dared go into the island, was not going back home.

Resigned, and feeling half dead already, Shiro started to sob his heart out. His tears mixed with the salty ocean water as he suffered the terrible fate that was awaiting for him. He stopped paddling as he felt his eardrums explode and he let out an unearthly shriek, just as the one the woman from the island had wailed. His heart, beating way too fast, eventually gave out before Shirogane could feel his own lungs exploding with the excessive amount of air they had breathed in. So there, in the middle of the ocean between the cay and Tokushima, layed Shiro dead in his wooden raft, never to be found again.

Natalia Ruiz León

NEWS AND UPDATES

NEW GROUP MEMBERS

Global Vantage was fortunate enough to grow to a total of fifteen members this year! Group leaders Haley and Ainsley have been working hard to train and inspire them to take on leadership roles for next year.

Overall, this group has worked well together, stepped up to face challenges, and had fun working and putting on events! Global Vantage has a bright future ahead thanks to them.

PRS + KGSA EVENT

In September of 2023, Global Vantage hosted a group of alumni, KGSA supporters, and the Executive Director of the KGSA Foundation, Katy Troyer. During the program, Co-Leaders Ainsley Cobb and Haley Esbeck discussed Global Vantage’s mission and continued collaboration with the KGSA.

Additionally, Katy spoke about the importance of girls’ education and the work currently being done at the KGSA to provide an accessible education to girls living in Kibera.

Global Vantage alumni participated in the con-

NEW LEADERSHIP

As current Global Vantage Co-Leaders and seniors Ainsley Cobb and Haley Esbeck prepare to graduate from Pacific Ridge School, the group has promoted Abigail Qui (‘26) and Kady Hawk (‘26) as next year’s Co-Leaders!

These students are passionate, outgoing, and hardworking, and will do great things for Global Vantage. We can’t wait to witness all that they accomplish.

versation surrounding Global Vantage’s cross cultural collaboration with the KGSA Journalism Club, and attendees spoke about their unique experiences living near, working with, supporting, and visiting the KGSA. Following this, an open mic conversation was facilitated about the imperative need to continue promoting girls’ education on a global scale.

We reunited with previous Global Vantage members, including Gabe Piscitello ‘16, Dillon Lerach ‘13, and Jack Merrifield ‘13. It was incredible to hear once again how Global Vantage played a significant role in their high school expe-

rience by inspiring them to pursue further studies and careers that connect back to their work with Global Vantage.

Thank you to all who attended the event and continue to keep up with us remotely. The support of each and every individual is what makes our decade-long collaboration with the KGSA Journalism Club possible.

Look out for more upcoming events like this!

FALL FEST 2023

This year’s Fall Fest sales expanded from selling authentic Kenyan chai lattes to selling handmade bags, bracelets, and headbands from the KGSA sewing club! We succeeded in spreading awareness about our group and had fun engaging with the Pacific Ridge community.

ROTARY PRESENTATION

After attending the PRS+KGSA Event in September, Jeff Segall invited Global Vantage to present to the Carlsbad Hi-Noon Rotary Club about our partnership and work with KGSA in order to gain more support from a local rotary connection. Group members Ainsley Cobb, Haley Esbeck, and Abigail Qui were joined by Germaine Jackson, Head of Service Learning at PRS, as well as Stephanie Dawes, a member of the Board of Directors for the KGSA Founda-

tion. They shared their experiences traveling to Kenya, talked about the progress of this year’s magazine issue, mentioned the KGSA’s current rotary club partners, and emphasized how they could assist with our mission.

We are incredibly grateful that the Rotary has decided to donate $1000 to the KGSA to further mental health and wellness efforts! For more information, visit carlsbadhinoonrotary.org

HARKNESS INSTITUTE VISITS

In February of 2024, a group of students from the Harkness Institute in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico were hosted by Pacific Ridge School students as part of the annual Spanish language exchange program. Many of the students joined Global Vantage for an honest and in-depth discussion on the differences in education between Mexico and the United States. It was a great opportunity to connect with our newest partner school on this in person level.

In April of 2024, a small group of Pacific Ridge Students completed the exchange by traveling to Nuevo Vallarta for a week to immerse them-

selves in the language and culture of Mexico. We hope that Global Vantage members will be able to travel with them for the exchange next year!

To keep up to date with Global Vantage’s most recent happenings, visit our website or follow us on Instagram!

globalvantagemagazine.com |

FINAL WORDS

When students harness the power of their education and chase after the opportunities it provides, their potential life paths multiply infinitely. Education has the power to break the cycle of poverty, allow us to overcome barriers, and create community in unique ways with diverse people. After reading through Issue 17: The Power of Education, we hope that you leave inspired by the stories and outlooks shared in each article, and decide to make the conscious choice to be an active participant in your education, no matter how old you are or where you live.

SUPPORT

We are partnered with the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Kibera, Kenya, the CETYS University in Tijuana, Mexico, and the Harkness Institute in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, whose students contribute photos and articles to the Global Vantage Magazine. Members are encouraged to reach out to their communities and colleagues to get a wide variety of pieces to include in our yearly publications. We focus on the diversity of our stories and the creation of a magazine that is worth reading.

Anyone who wishes to use materials in Global Vantage, either in print or online, may do so with proper citation at no cost. All materials can be used for educational purposes, but none may be used for profit not benefitting the multischool collaboration.

Global Vantage would like to thank all of its donors who made this issue possible. We rely on readers like you to support our social action projects and fundraising efforts. As you enjoy the stories on the preceding pages, please consider donating online or at one of our in person fundraising events. If you would like to get your stories published or would like your local business featured and advertised in the Global Vantage Magazine, please see our website or email us!

CONNECT

globalvantagemagazine.com | @globalvantage kgsafoundation.org | @kgsafoundation cetys.mx | @cetystijuana harkness.mx | @lagazeta_harkness

DISCLAIMER

Any political views represented in these articles belong to the author and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of Global Vantage, its members, or its affiliates. We do not write or solicit articles to spread our personal religious, political, or social beliefs. Our goal is to share experiences and viewpoints across cultural and physical borders to spread awareness about global issues in a way that allows contributors to share their own truths and stories.

COLOPHON

Issue 17 of the Global Vantage Magazine was created using Adobe InDesign CC on Apple Macbook Pro computers.

The section headers in this issue were set in Century Gothic Bold (46 pt), the article titles were set in Century Gothic Bold (26 pt), article subtitles were set in Century Gothic (10 pt), the article body text was set in Perpetua (10 pt), the author’s names were set in Century Gothic (12 pt), the biographies and captions were set in Perpetua Italic (9 pt), and the footnotes were set in Perpetua (8 pt).

The magazine’s 68 pages are printed on 80# paper, gloss finish, saddle stitch, full color. 200 copies have been produced at the cost of $2,600.

The magazine template was designed by Haley Esbeck. For all other design and layout credits, please reference the Staff List on the inside front cover. If you would like more information or wish to reproduce any articles featured in this magazine, please contact the Global Vantage staff at globalvantagemagazine@pacificridge.org.

Pictured left to right: Jack Merrifield (PRS alumnus), Ainsley Cobb (Global Vantage Co-Leader), Star Sultan (Global Vantage Supporter), Abdul Kassim (Founder of the KGSA), Dillon Lerach (PRS alumnus), Haley Esbeck (Global Vantage Co-Leader)

The

Power of Education