It's odd that after finally coming to American University, I am losing sight of why I came here. My dreams and passions have been drowned out amid the new location, new workload, new friends, and new life. Even in the one place where I can really make my dreams happen.
I like college, but college writing reminds me of high school English, Chinese is surprisingly and depressingly easy (or at least easier than i thought), I (literally) sleep through macro because the teacher goes over the exact same thing I read/learned in high school (sorry Broder), and world politics is nice, but more of a political theory debate than GOING OUT AND DOING SOMETHING related to what I pined for in high school.
I've been talking with some friends, and we agree that college has become...boring. The level of stress (from school, not outside sources) just isn't keeping us engaged. I've lost my drive. I like AU, I want to be at AU, but what's college without a dream?
Anyway, the World Bank presentation this Wednesday was the closest thing to re-sparking my drive. International Development. Yes. What can we do to help development? What is the WB doing? What can't it do? What is the progress? I actually paid attention to this presentation (not that I'm say I don't ALWAYS try to pay attention because they're all really cool experiences and I believe you can learn from everything).
I definitely want to work at the World Bank someday. I just wish there was more I could do now to help keep me motivated. Internships are pretty much out for freshmen, not to mention time consuming and take over time that could be used for working and helping to pay back student loans. Even classes are hard to get (the one that I REALLY want to take is only offered during the Wednesday labs. it's about upstart businesses in developing countries, a dead-on hit for what really interests me). I had to tell myself that I could try to take that class "next year". But WHY does it always have to be "next year"? In my senior year of high school it was "next year". My schedule for next semester is about as dismal as this semester's. And i even got a lot of gen eds out of the way with APs.
But enough of the tirade: the World Bank and the millennium development goals are an excellent connection to tomorrow's discussion about efficiency. How do you work towards these goals? The world bank already admitted that you can't just attack education. You also have to work towards fixing nutrition and women's empowerment or education will never really get fixed. This isn't efficient. So how do you work towards attaining the millennium development goals efficiently? I think it has to come from some form of economic expansion. The countries need funds to provide public works (like water, roads), the construction of which will give jobs to citizens who need money to buy food and keep themselves healthy (HELLO FISCAL POLICY). But if only the world was that simple...why hasn't this worked? I would like to experiment with small entrepreneurship in developing countries because i think it is the lack of industry in these countries that really prevents them from growing.
Elle,
ReplyDeleteI really admired what you said about the World Bank. It was so reinvigorating to hear such a great presentation after countless lectures that go from one ear to the next that never leave a distinct impression on the audience. The World Bank was so inspiring to learn about because of the significant advancements they have made in tackling a number of issues like development, nutrition, education, and the environment that so many people overlook and ignore because they think they are never going to make a difference in the world. I also really admired how the World Bank understands and accepts the errors they have made in the past. By acknowledging mistakes they have been able to grow stronger with the dawn of a new century. The millennium development goals, as you pointed out, are a great example of the way the World Bank is taking initiative and addressing the problems that so many people today are too afraid to tackle.