From Idea to Reality: Effecting Change in Our Communities Stories from students who are making a difference given their experiences in LeaderShape and the Vision in Action Program through the Office of Student Leadership & Service.
A ROADMAP TO TANGIBLE CHANGE Leadershape The LeaderShape Institute is a nationally recognized leadership program that is featured at over 80 campuses across the country. Each year, 60 Emory students participate in this intense week-long leadership immersion program where they envision a more just, caring, and thriving world while developing the key leadership skills necessary to help them effect positive change in their communities while working toward that vision.
Vision Development Goal-Setting Creation of Action Plan S
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Vision in Action The Vision in Action (VIA) program is an amazing experience for four to seven Emory students who have a personal vision of a social change or leadership project idea and the motivation to bring it to fruition. Students accepted into this program as VIA Fellows will earn three credit hours and be paired with Emory faculty to carry out their ideas from start to finish.
Pairing with Faculty Advisor Independent Research and Study for Credit Allocation of Funding for Implementation
A Brighter Tomorrow
My Vision: Create a culturally-sensitive and comprehensive basic nutrition program for refugee youths living in the Clarkston community.
Anna Koh I am creating a sustainable, culturally-sensitive and comprehensive six-week basic nutrition program for refugee youths living in the Clarkston community. The first week of the program teaches basic nutrition. Subsequent weeks focus on the food culture of different countries and identify problems associated with the American diet. The curriculum aims to inspire personal student ownership of their nutritional choices. Creation of a video or audio to supplement the written curriculum will empower the community to replicate the program during subsequent years. Ultimately the program will teach Clarkston Community teenagers the importance of eating a healthy diet and how to make lasting diet changes that will positively affect their well-being. Students will also receive information that they can share with their families to broaden the program’s impact.
is the art of seeing what is “Vision invisible to others.
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- Jonathan Swift
My Vision: HOME (Helping Other Mothers Excel) is a curriculum of teaching sessions and a support group for teenage mothers in the Atlanta area.
Blake Massullo Through Vision in Action I have created HOME (Helping Other Mothers Excel). HOME offers a curriculum and support group for teenage mothers in the Atlanta area. In 2010 Georgia had the 13th highest teen pregnancy rate in the United States. I have already worked with organizations in Florida that aid teenage mothers. Using these organizations as models, I created HOME. HOME is an eleven-week curriculum that teaches teenage mothers valuable skills as well as provides knowledge about topics such as child development milestones, CPR, coping with stress, nurturing healthy relationships, and continuing education. Each session offers expert speakers, activities, small group discussions, incentives for success, and discussions with former teen moms. Through HOME, I hope to reduce repeat pregnancies and educate mothers regarding their and their child’s overall physical/mental health and development. The long-term goal is for HOME to be implemented in high schools, community centers, and teen mother second chance homes.
My Vision: The newly established Building Tomorrow at Emory hopes to raise $6,000 by May 2014 to build a classroom onto a pre-existing school in Uganda.
ERIKA OLIVER Vision in Action is helping me to accomplish my goal of improving the quality of and access to education in developing countries. The newly established chapter at Emory of Building Tomorrow hopes to raise $6,000 by May 2014 to build a classroom onto the structure of a pre-existing school in Uganda. Building Tomorrow is a national organization that gives entry to education to children in Uganda. This classroom will provide 45 students with access to an education, which is an investment into their individual futures and the future of their country. In order to do this, we are raising awareness through various campus outreach programs and fundraising projects. The ultimate goal is to inspire others to employ their talents in order to improve education for those who do not have adequate resources. I would like to see Building Tomorrow become a permanent chapter at Emory. After our first classroom is built, perhaps we can begin raising funds to construct an entire academy.
I am creating a free, opensource database for student writing that will automate contributions to free online databases such as Wikipedia. Ultimately, however, I want to turn being “just a student� into being an active innovator and reformer in today’s society.
LUKAS OLSON The goal of my Vision In Action project is for students to work to solve real-world problems every day in and out of class through the creation of a platform accessible to students and teachers through Wikipedia. Wikipedia, the fifth most visited website on the Internet, is losing content contributors. Many studies have been conducted on the issue but solutions have not been particularly effective. Wikipedia users cite several sources of the problem: editing is too technically difficult; Wikipedia has too many confusing policies; and contributions are deleted too often (Source: http://bit.ly/WikipediaContributors). My proposal addresses all of these problems by creating incentives for new individuals to contribute, streamlining the editing and contribution process, and encouraging a more constructive editing environment. This project will utilize the efforts of students and teachers in the classroom to bring educational content to people all over the world at virtually no cost.
My Vision: Working to engage, affirm, and support Black students at Emory through the newlyestablished Black Student Union.
Samantha scott My Vision in Action will help expand existing social support communities among Black women at Emory. The community building and mutual support networks that were historically created and maintained by Black women have long served to foster resilience in black communities across America. These networks were and are central to social movements and survival throughout U.S. history for Black people. I am working to engage, affirm, and support students who identify as Black women at Emory through the newly-established Black Student Union and expanding the networks of support for Black women at Emory through fun activities and programs that educate and challenge the status quo. My project specifically targets black women -- a community that is largely ignored by formal programs -- because the community-building strategies I outline are known to mitigate the effects of daily microaggressions, and because my program can serve as an important space for radical antiracist change.
without action is merely a dream. “Vision Action without vision just passes the time.
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Vision with action can change the world. - Joel A. Barker
My Vision:
The Good Life lecture seeks to facilitate a meaningful exchange of ideas on how to lead the “good life,” based on Socrates’ concept of Eudaemonia. We aim to attract speakers whose experiences and knowledge provide distinctive and challenging understandings on how to lead such a life, so students can benefit from their wisdom as they move forward constructing their own personal version of the good life.
Hugh Green My Vision in Action project, The Good Life Lecture Series, seeks to facilitate a meaningful exchange of ideas regarding how to lead the good life based on Socrates’ concept of Eudaemonia. We aim to attract speakers whose experiences and knowledge provide distinctive and challenging understandings on how to lead such a life. Our reason for doing so is that an audience, comprised primarily of students, can benefit from the experience of their teachers as they move forward in constructing their own personal version of the good life. To date I have formulated a mission, identified speakers and topics, created a survey, reviewed the results of the survey, narrowed the criteria for speakers, and am in the process of inviting speakers for the spring of 2014. I plan to host four lectures that will leave students feeling challenged and empowered to live the good life.
is not just a picture of what could “Abe;vision it is an appeal to our better selves, a
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call to become something more. - Rosabeth Moss Kanter
My Vision: My Vision for the Emory Community is to promote and support prospective and current Non-traditional students on campus.
Tanya Zamora My Vision in Action project involves promoting and supporting prospective and current non-traditional students on campus and within the Emory community. For this project, I am creating a niche on campus for non-traditional students with new social connections and new support alliances. An element of the program involves the development of specific resources to help non-traditional students when difficulties arise as well as a new orientation program geared toward the non-traditional student population. Creating awareness within the greater Emory community of the challenges nontraditional students face will give non-traditional students a voice and promote a higher level of success within this population, as well as lead to a richer, deeper Emory culture.
have accomplished great things have “Allhadwho a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.
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- Orison Swett Marden
My Vision: My vision is to empower student-teachers to leverage innovative education methodologies to co-create and network, not only to foster a sense of intellectual curiosity within oneself, but also to spread the passion for education and learning.
Sam Bobo The purpose of my Vision in Action project is to empower student-teachers to leverage innovative education methodologies to co-create and network, not only to foster a sense of intellectual curiosity within, but also to spread the passion for education and learning. Teaching in Action is an initiative that brings college students, student-teachers, professors, and university staff together to engage in peer-developed curriculum. Through a series of 5 classes, students will engage in academic discussion on non-traditional topics that derive from the student-teacher’s unique interests and passions. Classes will take an innovative spin on pedagogy, using Project-Based Learning, Service Learning, and Technology to drive creativity and change. Through this experience, participants will emerge with a new knowledge-base, an innovative artifact, and a rewarding experience that will change the way they see the world around them. Over time, my vision for the program is to shape the world of education and allow for the co-creation of knowledge amongst a growing community of intellectuals.
My Vision: My project seeks to create a space where Asian American students’ racialized experiences are recognized and valued.
Cindy Park My Vision in Action project will provide a mechanism for Asian American students to discuss their racialized experiences at Emory University through discussion groups. A few questions I would like to explore are: What does it mean to be an Asian American student at Emory University and within the context of society at large; How do our racialized experiences differ from other people of color and how are they similar; How do we form solidarity within our own community? How can we be effective advocates for change at Emory in regard to the perpetuation and persistence of racial stereotypes? These discussions will provide a space for Asian American students to learn, share, and discuss their racialized identities with one another in an environment where they are supported and made to feel that their personhood and experiences matter. Few mechanisms currently exist for Asian American students to come together to share, explore, and discuss their experiences. My project will strive to do just that and more. All Asian American students are more than welcome to join the conversation.
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