World Peace

Is it cliché to say I just want world peace? I’m passionate about the concept of empathy and I believe it can change the world. Empathy is better than sympathy to me. A sympathizer would travel to a third world country and give them pity, maybe even volunteer with children. An empathizer would travel to all different, beautiful places the world has to offer and learn different customs and respect those differences. I want to make videos, podcast and blogs highlighting different areas of the world. Only my family and friends care where I travel now, but I believe that more people are learning empathy every day and I would love to create a space where different perspectives and environments can be shared and respected. The idea of empathy is not new and traveling is not always rewarding. However, I want to create a media-based subscription where people can experience real life situations that happen to me while traveling, that would hopefully inspire others to do the same. I believe sharing traveling experience would get people to see things that they don’t have access to and hopefully change their perspectives on going to different places. This would incorporate empathy by opening people up and giving them access to an immersive experience, that would hopefully introduce them to their own experiences traveling, or even trying new places in their own hometown. It’s my unique experience traveling that puts me in a position to want to encourage others to do so.

I am the friend that people come to when they need help, for my ability to look at things from everyone’s perspective. So, I would like to travel to different countries, or even different states, and create the opportunity for people to learn different customs. Building a connection between people is how we create peace, not by sympathy but by honest bonding and respect for differences. Don’t get me wrong, this idea didn’t immediately start changing me as a person. And I honestly didn’t come to this conclusion by choice. You see, my parents both grow up in Boomer households. My dad was a high school dropout and my grandmother dropped out in the third grade. For both my parents getting a job meant everything. So despite my best efforts to learn about empath, I went to the one place empathy is not allowed; law school. The first thing you should know is that I appreciate my time at law school but it is a competition. The learning curve is based on how much better you are than the next person. If you’re the best you get the best grade, if you’re above average but not the best, you’re labeled average. To be a lawyer, you need to have empathy but to survive law school, you have to lack empathy. If I’m studying with someone who’s less knowledgeable than me, I have to find someone smarter. No matter the status of who this person is or if I respect for them, they cannot help me so I should not build a connection. It’s a system to make you feel like you’re average and individualized but constantly compared. I honestly was not use to the idea of people not talking to me because I was not the smartest. This led to me dropping out of law school. It was my chance at finding a job and I failed. So, the next step was to find a passion.

I think I finally understand why Boomers hate Millennials so much for quitting jobs. They never understood the art of putting a monetary value on peace. Growing up in the 60s and 70s meant having a hobby that you enjoyed and finding a job that you stayed at, even if you didn’t like the job. My mother became an accountant after having me and stayed at the same company for 21 years, slowly progressing as the years went on. Well, they downsized and she was a part of the group they let go. So, I have to ask myself: If companies only think about people as a monetary value, then why should I stay somewhere I’m not valued as a person? I always wanted to go into Law, ever since I was in the third grade arguing with every child. Even in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Debate”. As much as I like to believe I’m always right, essentially law is not a hobby that gives me passion, it’s a job. It’s a structure of rules that can be interpreted and played with but essentially, it’s a duty. The thing that gives me passion is the different perspectives. It baffles me that you can read a law and think it means something, and someone can read that same law and think it means something else. I’ve had to learn empathy this way.

I tried to put all my effort in realigning myself with who I am, and the things that bring me fulfillment. I realized I loved connecting with people and showing empathy that I would hope they passed along. I served at restaurants all throughout college and I student taught a class on sustained dialogue. Sustained Dialogue is open discussions and dialogue about anything like politics or gender, or even race. It stems from your story as a person and not the identity or labels that society places on you. There are definitive choices that shape who you are as a person, and instead of trying to force you to change to my view, it’s about learning your view and opening dialogue to respect your choices. This led me to thinking of a way I can immerse myself in a completely different environment and learn different views.

Finally, I applied for a job in China. I wanted to be exactly on the other part of the world and know that I can prosper, or at the very least find a McDonalds on my own. I would be working in Beijing as an English second language teacher for a year. Everyone thought I was crazy and my parents insisted I just find a job in our small city. I even thought it was so crazy that I waited 2 months to fully get the teaching certificate. I traveled to Europe when I was 18 for two weeks, and it was a struggle. My phone didn’t have service, a French ATM ate my bank card and Dr. Scholl’s sandals still left blisters on my feet. However, I wouldn’t trade that experience or the people we met for anything in the world. For a black woman, it’s not always easy to be seen as a voyager. Even for someone from Buffalo, there are people here who have never traveled outside the city. This was an opportunity to grow my experience and find out who I can be in the world. This was also an experiment for me to really immerse myself in an environment that would be completely different than America. So, I went.

I was experiencing the plight of an immigrant that makes me empathize with the process of getting a green card and constantly keeping up with a work visa. I empathize with anyone who works with kids, but that turns into sympathy for teachers who work with pre-teens. I empathize with anyone who’s first language is not English because my mandarin was awful. I empathized with the drastic economic status gaps that we also have in America. I empathized with people seeing a black woman in China and being excited, because when I saw another black person, I got excited. I empathized with the Drag Queen club owner making a bold statement in China. I embraced the culture and respected the differences but found so many similarities that could bind us. I took these experiences and shared them with my friends and family when Covid-19 hit China. As America was shutting down flights, I had to leave to be with my family. Seeing as I left during a crucial part of history, everyone had questions. My goal was to show everyone that it was a great experience and that the pandemic shouldn’t alter the idea of what China can offer. I wanted people to understand that a pandemic shouldn’t divide us as people or take away the accomplishments of the culture.

I was always told that to monetize a true God-given gift means that you’re living in success. I am most passionate about traveling and discovering new places as well as connecting to people, creating relationships that the world needs right now. I have a lot to say about getting out into the world and experiencing new things but it also coincides with being the change I want to see in the world. With today’s climate, people can be so divisive over little things that they can forget the big things that connect us, like an airplane or train; Or even the small things that connect us, like a family coffee shop or a unique themed bar. Traveling, even out to a different city in your state, is how you explore new things and experience the world. Traveling reinforced my empathy and I hope I can teach that to others using a memberful account and growing my following to more than just family and friends that are stuck with me. I was challenged in truly wondering what is my passion and how I can monetize it. Well, is it cliché to say I just want world peace?