What advice would you have given yourself five years ago? Why? by Arsema

What advice would you have given yourself five years ago? Why? by Arsema - April 2021 Scholarship Essay

I wish someone five years ago would have told me to never fear going beyond the status quo. There should never be an assumption of having ulterior motives when wanting to help out. The least I could have done was to not fear or dim my light when working towards uplifting communities globally.
My father walked out on me when I was fourteen. Waking up and finding all of his things packed with no trace behind, left feelings of dejection and abandonment. I realized that lack of support affects all aspects of life, primarily school. I created Oceans Apart: a letter exchange program between Ethiopia, Kenya, Venezuela, and Bulgaria to provide students in other countries with a support system in my community.
I was passionate about my pen pals getting the resources they need to succeed. One of my Kenyan pen pals wrote to me about her hard time learning English since her school lacked wifi. So, I took it upon myself to handwrite lessons into the letters for her. I made it my mission to raise funds so these students could receive remote instruction, campaigning for them at restaurants, stores, and schools. I was ecstatic with the computers and we quickly had laptops ready for shipment. However, the principal at Durban Secondary school in Kenya balked at distributing them, the American administrators were disappointed but told me to go along with his decision. Sirens went off in my head when I started to push him for reasons for his decision. I backed down, and quietly left the office. I knew that I was supposed to respect men--any adult, in particular teachers and other authority figures. I had been doing so my entire life. I would have told my younger self that being obedient wasn't always the right thing to do. It’s okay to stand up for what’s right and fair. I would have told the younger me that politeness can in some moments be a form of powerlessness; that I must respect my own voice because sometimes society will not.