A change.

Just in case you don’t know, I’m currently now a sophomore majoring in International Business at LIM College (Laboratory Institute of Merchandising), a school focused on the business aspect of the fashion industry. I’ve always wanted to go into fashion; however, in the last few years, I’ve found a new interest in working with nonprofits. Truthfully, during my senior year in high school, I felt guilty for wanting to go into fashion because I thought there was no way philanthropy and social responsibility could mix with the fashion industry. I wanted to give back to the community just as much as I wanted to work in the fashion industry. Ever since my academic advisor from LIM College introduced CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, to me, my heart has felt somewhat at ease knowing as if this is truly my vocation. According to Aristotle, “where your talents and the needs of the world cross; there lies your vocation.”

It is this quote that influences me to use my talents, my knowledge in the fashion industry, to give back to the community because no matter what specialty you practice, there's always a way to bring forth virtue into it. I it is my goal to further merge philanthropy in with the fashion and art industries. This is also one of the reasons why I joined LIM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Club followed by starting our school's Philanthropy Club because our vocation, seeking happiness, philosophically is both beneficial to you and to your community. We actually just now finished our clothing drive in benefit of Bottomless Closet, a nonprofit in aiding women less fortunate. I also collaborated with Jacqueline Rose--a ethical fashion brand benefiting foster kids in New York--and Mercado Global--a ethical brand working to end the cycle of poverty through helping indigenous women in Guatemala. I would love to further get our club members, or even the whole student body here at my college and even the whole business of fashion, exposed to this message, especially the message of the United Nations.

On Thursday, April 29th earlier this year, I and three other students from LIM attended a conference at the UN regarding Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Together. Other schools such as Fordham, Columbia, NYU, and more attended making it so interesting to see different people's perspective on the matter of the UN's Global Goals. Speakers like Maher Nasser, the Director of UN Public Info, Ahmad Alhendawi, co-founder for Youth for Democracy in Jordan, Ravi Karkara, Executive Director of UN Women, and many many more, spoke to us of how we, the youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow, but we're the leaders of today. I even got to speak at one point which still feel unreal. There’s a video of the conference with me in it if you’d like to watch it. (I’m in the second row to the right).

We also had the opportunity to speak to youth ambassadors who represent nonprofits for the UN. I spoke to Esther McFarlane who is from South Africa and focuses on the high need of quality education for everyone. I’d very much like to connect the speakers I met at the UN with the faculty and student body of LIM College in order to better gain awareness on the Sustainable Development Goals as well as the United Nations in genreal. The idea of sustainability and fashion in collaboration is still fairly new at my college, but I'd love to be a voice that further bring prevalence to the subject.

In relation to philosophy, one of the keywords people were saying throughout the conference was the importance of collaboration. If everyone had the access to education, imagine the amount of ideas and innovation we can establish. The conference was trying to further build on the concept of what it meant to be a global citizen where everyone one is equal in health, education, and the pursuit of happiness. I can best relate this to Aristotle who views man as a naturally social being in need of collaboration and pursuing virtue in order to achieve genuine and infinite happiness. It gives us all the more reason to help those in need if it means helping ourselves. Also, Aristotle and french philosopher Emmanuel Mounier also believed that if it is man’s purpose to seek out happiness and to know all truth and knowledge, who are we to deny our equal that opportunity? It is man who seek assistance in his community to achieve happiness. If that is the case, it’s inhumane.Virtue cannot be done to oneself just as much as all knowledge cannot be taught by oneself. It is all a community effort. Hence, this is one of the reasons why the UN wants these goals to be a team effort. I like how modern situations like this can relate to perspectives developed centuries ago.

In all honesty, I was really moved by what happened that Thursday and want to start getting the ball rolling to further grant philanthropic influence in the world. “We are not only the leaders of tomorrow; we are the leaders of today and tomorrow,” said Ivana Pancurakova, a Youth Ambassador of Olof Palme Peace Foundation International and member of Conference Youth Committee. Truthfully, this makes me so happy and grateful to have found this opportunity. This opportunity probably wouldn’t have come up if it weren’t for my newly gained knowledge of philosophy from this semester.

As of now, I wish to continue with learning more about CSR with an extended interest in global development as well as NGO's associated with the United Nations..I'll try to keep you updated.

#UnitedNations #NGO #SDG #LIMCollege #college