I'm a first-year in the College, and I currently live in Max Palevsky's Flint House. Living here, even for just this one year, has taught me a lot about how I can use my skills as a researcher and an investigator to help my community, whether it’s on the scale of Flint or on larger scales as I move on with my career in law, to best help those around me. We live in a city rich with opportunities and activities, and my efforts to bring my community in Flint out into the city at large have paid dividends in both relationships between students and House culture overall. I’ve introduced people across Houses, across dorms, all by doing my best to inform my people about the city they live in through travel. I’ve had the honor of watching these connections I’ve fostered through these adventures enrich both House culture and College culture as people begin to see themselves not just as students of UChicago but as students of Chicago itself. I got accepted to become a Resident Assistant next year, which gives me an even greater capacity to lead and guide UChicago students on how to best enjoy and learn about their city. I chose this position because I wanted to do more of what I’ve already been able to accomplish while on House Council – being a strong, informative presence for other students to come to with questions, problems and ideas. Through a compiled list of museums, restaurants, shops, and cultural centers, I have a Chicagoland recommendation for everyone I meet. If I know someone who enjoys art history, I can point them to the diorama exhibits of the Chicago History Museum. If I know someone who wants to learn more about the ethnic enclaves of Chicago, I can guide them to one of the many cultural centers (Hellenic, Polish, Swedish, Rohingya) in the city so they can better understand the origins of this amazing, multicultural place we inhabit. I have the power to inform and connect those around me, and my intended career in law will ask that I use this to best explain legal processes and broker contracts, but it shows up in how I live my life now, here in Flint, as well. As an attorney, my job would be to inform others of their rights and what tools are at their disposal to better their situations, and my ability to write well enough to keep people abreast of these tools and to convince judges and juries to protect those same tools are already skills I’ve worked to develop. Informing my friends in Flint is just the beginning, but it has already taught me a great deal towards these ends, and I couldn’t be more grateful.