Wealth: The World's Biggest Threat by Madison

Wealth: The World's Biggest Threat by Madison - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

When I envision a gap year, it is not merely nine months off from the traditional commitment to education; I see a year full of taking risks I would otherwise assume irrelevant to my path of learning.
I would begin my journey with a one-way flight to India. With no family or friends there, I would embrace the culture, living by word of mouth. Staying with a host family, and becoming a member of their own; I would not be alone. I want to see the poverty in which many live in order to humble myself. I want to dive head first into the cuisine that in portrayed as a Bollywood scene to the rest of the world. I want to use my platform of travel to enrich not only my life, but also the lives around me, and expose once closed off minds to the love and significance of cultural diversity. While the culture may be my mindset, it is not simply the culture displayed in the movies, but the culture cut-off by reality that I would dig further into. The hundreds of thousands of women and children who sell themselves into sexual slavery in order to support the growing demands brought up by the ideals of the overseas upperclass, I will be your voice. To the thousands of children who die every month to mine mica used in cosmetics across the world, I will be your advocate. To those who are beaten down by the images cast by society, I will stand hand in hand with you to create your own image based in strength and love. When we are not together we are against each other, and no kind should believe in such opposition.Where I plan to go next would be for those of a courageous heart, but you cannot grow when the strings of your past are binding, therefore preventing you from reaching the cultivation of curiosity and exposure.
China is known for its hazardous breathing conditions and surplus of cheap manufacturing, but this only draws me nearer. I want to stand in the middle of Tiananmen Square. I want to feel the daily reality of those who must sit in the consequences of others. I need to know that I contribute to the outcomes of global change, and by standing in the exposure of my own contributions I want to be the change who has no masked image. To the men and women who work countless hours in ragingly unsanitary conditions, I will be your voice. To the overseas companies who stand on the basis that if they do not experience the first hand return of their actions then there must be no detrimental consequences at all, I will show you otherwise. My heart will be reflected radiantly through this country, and a country perceived as a global garbage pit will be held to the same standards as its Western neighbors. I will not let distance remain a mask over the inhumane practices carried out in overseas countries, I will not contribute to that barrier.
My gap year may fall between a calendar year, but the change will last hundreds beyond that for those behind me. Many ask why I chose to visit only those two countries, and my response is simple. Why not choose the two most exploited countries for arguably the most controversial topics in society today, human trafficking and global warming. My goal does not stop beyond those regions, but rather is growing based on the lack of support from mankind, the ones in which evil is rooted in. I will not join the countless numbers who toss responsibility to those behind or below me, but rather I will use my voice to uphold their needs and support change that others diminish. I am not just a millennial, I am the future.