AWARD RECIPIENTS

Derek Litvak

My dream has always been simple. I have always wanted to make something of myself, and find a way to give back to others. It wasn't until recently that I finally discovered in what way I could do this. I never had an aspiration to be some big shot person, changing the world as the media watched. However, I have always wanted to make an impact on someone's life. I have always wanted to find a way to help another person. To make a difference in someone's life, even if it was just in some small way. I came to the discovery of how I could do this two years ago, after looking back on my life. I realized I could use my experiences to help others...

read more

Elizabeth Ahrens

In the past year, I have become passionate about urban farming. This interest only started out from a book, but later became something much more. I first became interested in urban farming after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. In this day and age, when many people are disconnected from the natural world, The Omnivore's Dilemma showed me that it is possible to grow or raise food in a sustainable and humane way...

read more

Chad S. Pfeiffer

I am pursuing a Masters in Counseling, at the University of New Mexico, to strengthen myself, my family and my community. The name Navajo is actually a mispronunciation of Naabaahii Dine’e, meaning “Warrior People”. Through my indigenous identity, I have a predisposition to be a warrior. As told to me by my elders, the primary enemies in current society are laziness/apathy, ignorance, depression and jealousy/envy. These primary enemies grow social ills such as substance, emotional, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, suicide, and homicide...

read more

Hannah Perry

Changing the world may seem insurmountable, even unrealistic, but positive changes can be made one person at a time. I would like to change or at least make a difference in poverty in America. A few years ago, I realized there were families in my own neighborhood who were honestly struggling financially – single moms, laid off dads, a parent newly diagnosed with cancer. All were hard-working people who fell upon some unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances..

read more

Anna Glina

There is no stranger feeling than seeing the world for the first time through new eyes. At 16, my life was forever altered by a small, orange collection of pages called Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. What Kidder had exposed to me was an alien world of poverty, political strife, and such a deep-rooted injustice that for a while, I naively tried to attribute it to masterful writing rather than reality. I found myself ..

read more

Mitch Arnold

I am passionate about using the sport of soccer to create social change for kids in needy and troubled areas of the world. Boys and girls in many nations (including the U.S.) have little, if anything. They are desperately looking for something positive to do. They love soccer, but have little or no resources to play the sport. For those lucky enough to have equipment, it is tattered..

read more

Katia Kyriakoulis

To Know No Hate

Prejudice is not something that is new to the world.  It has been around since time began; the competitive drive to rise to the top is human instinct. All ethnicities and societal classes have been victims of hatred.
When the word "prejudice" is said, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? The first of many groups of people that came to..

read more

 

Arielle Barrientos

I see many things that need to change in this world and that people should strive to change. I see children in the United States who have dreams but feel they cant obtain them due to a financial situation, lack of parental support, lack of confidence/self-esteem or something as simple as inspiration.

read more

 

Brian Poole - October

You're going to see many things that you just won't know how to respond to.Those were the words spoken to me by the man in the seat next to me as we were about to land in Nairobi, Kenya.I was going to be spending a little more than two months living in Kenya and teaching a school among the Maasai tribe.

read more

 

Iliana Arenas - September

In order to understand what I feel needs to change, I feel it important to explain a little about my childhood. My name is Iliana Arenas, I am a 19 year old female, and I grew up surrounded by gang violence, drugs, and death. I grew up in a neighborhood in Chicago known as La Villita, or Little Village.

read more