Correcting Cultural Amnesia: Reforming the Present by Shedding Light on the Past by Kaycee

Kaycee's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2024 scholarship contest

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Correcting Cultural Amnesia: Reforming the Present by Shedding Light on the Past by Kaycee - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Taking a different route home one afternoon, I stumbled upon a mural with bright hues that offered a stark contrast from the surrounding overgrown vines and long-dead grass. Closer research revealed that it symbolized strength for indigenous people’s migration. My discovery spurred me to explore my city further, and I was astonished by the amount and variety of diverse stories that had been around me all my life. Yet, I knew little of the city I grew up in outside of its typical tourist attractions. Throughout the next year, I visited as many historically overlooked sites as I could from whitewashed Chicano murals to a Chinatown burned down from the rampant demonization of Chinese immigrants.

Seeing how racist intent behind gentrification has erased sites of historical significance in my community, I recognize the need to preserve the histories of marginalized communities through uncovering their stories of struggle and resistance. This is an issue I will continue to pursue through studying public policy and cultural studies in college. By increasing research on alternatives to gentrification and disseminating existing resources, I hope to correct the widespread cultural amnesia that such erasure enforces.

Recognizing a need to shed light on these patterns of discrimination and the stories behind them, I founded Student Advocacy for Change Inc. to advocate for necessary change in my community by amplifying commonly underrepresented voices. With the help of peers, we created an archive of ethnic oral stories detailing the shared yet diverse experiences with the hope of fostering empathy among the community. This served as a dual purpose during a spike of violence and hate crimes following the COVID-19 pandemic, which I further addressed by developing a bystander intervention program for my community. As I built up a group composed of driven and vocal members, I worked to expand our impact by organizing student participation in city council meetings to advocate for noncitizen voting rights in municipal elections. Though the measure successfully passed in Santa Ana, I continue my advocacy as my home city attempts to implement voter suppression measures at ballot boxes.

My interest in economics grew as an intern for UCI professor Dr. Franco where I researched the effects of deceptive and illegal price strategies. Seeing how these practices harm consumers by reducing competition in global oligopolist industries, I developed solutions that would close these loopholes and discourage such behavior. Analyzing case studies of price fixing suits provoked my interest in promoting corporate social responsibility to ensure that public welfare is prioritized with commercial gain in the decision-making process. I now seek to continue my research in discovering methods that align corporate and social interests so that profit can be generated through alleviating social issues. By standardizing measures of impact investing such as negative screening and impact-focused financial securities, I hope to encourage stakeholders to consider broader social criteria in their investments, thus setting precedents for the future of the industry industry.

I plan to bridge all of my interests in my future career by advocating for policies pushing ethical business practices including equitable hiring and promotion practices, dialogue on how power and privilege manifests in the workplace, and an inclusive corporate culture. Though the bystander training program I offered in my community was primarily offered to students in local schools, I hope to continue extending outreach on an institutional level. Teaching corporate workers how to recognize preconceived biases and stand up to discrimination will help sustain an environment rooted in equity where employees feel aptly supported without compromising their identity. I plan to expand on the issues covered in my program, such as how developing gender roles affect roles in the labor market, wage penalties penalize mothers in the workplace, and the economic tradeoff when women prioritize their career over starting a family. Simultaneously, I will continue to expand and disseminate research and resources on feminist pedagogies. By expanding resources on diverse leadership development, I will develop solutions and initiatives that will eliminate systemic barriers while ensuring greater organizational effectiveness.

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