My first step towards being a global leader was when I chose majors that I knew would benefit my home country. The apparent lack of medical and mental health care in Haiti pushed me to choose to major in Biology and Psychology. In order to increase my understanding of not only my country, but also its surrounding countries, I opted for certificates in Women Studies and Latin American & Caribbean studies, and minors in Spanish and Nutrition. As a result of my diverse course of study, I qualified for another Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies.
I am proud to say that I am one of those highly-gifted and well-rounded graduates because of the diverse and progressive education I received from FIU as an undergraduate. As a World’s Ahead institution, FIU’s commitment to its local and global communities further extends through its ardent support and passionate link to the international community locally through various programs that I myself participated in such as the Latin American and Caribbean Center, FIU Study Abroad and Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. My decision to pursue my undergraduate studies at FIU is reinforced by their service to their students by providing degree programs with a global perspective and in its dedication to enriching the lives of all students. I used my time as a student as an opportunity to create new partnership with FIU’s diverse faculty, staff, and student body while furthering the spirit of global leadership, research, service, and community that perpetuates FIU’s mission and vision. My fervent pursuit of knowledge of led me to pursue certificates in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Women’s Studies. During the global learning journey, I have taken classes such as World Nutrition, Introduction to Microbiology, Biology of AIDS, African Civilization, World Civilization, Latin American Culture, Studies in World Religions, LGBT and Beyond: Non-Normative Sexualities in Global Perspective, Introduction to Global Gender and Women's Studies, and Women, Culture, and Economic Development. I have also taken multiple language course in Haitian Creole, Spanish, and French. Through each of these courses, I got to examine specific topics but from a global standpoint. I was able to apply what I learned from these courses to expand my leadership within the Haitian Student Organization. I am a servant leader dedicated to the progress and development of Latin America and the Caribbean especially Haiti and the Haitian community abroad. As president of the Haitian Student Organization at FIU, I served as the site leader/coordinator for two international service trips. Some of my duties included searching for partners, managing the service trips’ participants, developing the trips’ itinerary, keeping detailed records of all the service projects, procuring funding, and managing expenses. I was able to secure a partnership with Win Win Global to serve at College Jean Rigaud Antoine and Wayom Timoun in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Our service trip mainly focused on education through workshops and activities but we also did a library project and offered scholarships to students through APEX technical school. Each participants’ presentation was related to their major. The topics spanned from pollution in Haiti, personal hygiene, art, and the importance of reading books in Haitian Creole for the younger children to HIV/AIDS, STDs and safe sex practices, science, financial literacy, higher education and construction safety for older high school students. As it was many of the participants first time in Haiti, they also got to explore some of Haiti’s touristic sites. As president, I also served as the head Alternative Breaks site leader at the Bateyes in Dominican Republic. We served the undocumented Haitian immigrants working in the sugar cane fields who are living/working in inhuman conditions, facing discrimination and violation of their basic human and civil rights due to apathetic political policies in the Dominican Republic. Through this trip, we acquired a greater understanding of the plight of the Haitians living in Dominican Republic by volunteering with different local nonprofit organizations and by hosting forums for Haitians living in Dominican Republic and Haitian-Dominicans to share their experiences. In recognition of our dedication to service and fervent advocacy for the Haitian communities in Dominican Republic, FIU HSO won the Best HSO of the year at the National Haitian Student Alliance Annual Conference. I also was nominated for the Leadership Award for my work with HSO FIU. My time serving as president of HSO FIU provided me with the opportunity contribute to the local Haitian community and its diaspora living abroad while gaining key skills and training that stimulated my personal and professional growth. I plan on continuing my studies at FIU as a graduate student. I will be pursuing my Masters in Public Health with a certificate in African and African Diaspora Studies. During my time as a Masters student, I plan to expand my global leadership through FIU’s Peace Corps Prep program to then serve as a Peace Corps member in either Latin America and the Caribbean or Africa. With a growth mindset and a heart for service, this global leader will continue to be Worlds Ahead. |