Describe your most meaningful experience(s) and why they matter to you. — KP Fellow Application

My most meaningful experience was taking care of Denise, a 60 year old Native American blind and deaf woman with astasis, Meniere’s Disease and cancer who was living alone. Denise occasionally lived with her two nine year old sons. Her sons struggled with ADHD and Autism.

Most of my life I’ve learned technical skills and theoretical concepts to understand the world and wanting to make it a better place. I took a part time nanny job through Care.com during my junior year at Berkeley and I had a unique opportunity to change their lives for the better. Every time I cleared out the shattered glass, mold, and trash on the floor I would think how I could enable a life that would have been better for her.

It was satisfying to see the progress as I worked through each mess but I wanted to create something long term that would have a positive impact on the world. It really got me thinking about how the effects of centralization of power enabled groups to colonize and eradicate Native Americans, leaving Denise to distrust any form of social service and medical care out of fear of others.

These feelings were passed down as generational trauma. It also forced me to confront how her sons may face difficulty with Denise’s feelings against what they are told from others as well as how society will treat them for not adhering to the neuro-typical matrix of power centralized through history. Seeing a real human life suffer from the impacts of the problem’s I’ve contributed to further motivated me to make the world a better place.