https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6 en-us 2020-08-17 02:18:27 UTC 2025-12-21 17:09:49 UTC hello@padlet.com ambaraghavan https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682140668 I, Amba Raghavan, am a 16 year old Indian- American female, born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I used to think growing up in one of the nation's most conservative states was a horrible curse bestowed upon me. With my stubborn, very liberal, immigrant-raised, Gen Z attitude, I always thought I was as culturally aware and politically correct as they come. I wasn't ignorant like my "Nebraskan" peers. I couldn't wait to go to college and leave this horrible state to be among more "open-minded" people.]]> 2020-08-17 02:20:01 UTC https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682140668 ambaraghavan https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682144039 In the process of pursuing more extracurriculars and defining my interests, I started volunteering at Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. At the Re-Store, employees/volunteers re-furnish furniture and home decor, and sell it to the disadvantaged for a reasonable price. As I started volunteering there, I started meeting new people from all around Omaha. I never realized how diverse Omaha was, as I had always been isolated within the middle/upper class, and predominantly white community of Omaha. This was the first time I had ever truly paid attention to the city I was living in. I always wanted to change the world somehow for the better, but I never realized how much opportunity for change there was right in front of my doorstep. During my time at Habitat, I volunteered alongside an elderly, white woman named Cheryl. Cheryl was a very sweet and hard working lady, but not someone I ever thought I could relate to. I had set up this automatic barrier in my mind that I could never have something in common with someone like her. However, as the days passed, and the store flooded with our conversations, I realized how wrong I was. I was the closed-minded one. I was the one to set up a wall between my own community and myself. I was the one that avoided associating with people, based off of stereotypes. I was ignorant. ]]> 2020-08-17 02:24:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682144039 ambaraghavan https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682150858 After this realization, I came to the conclusion that I can't reach out to the world until I have reached out to my own communities. Until I first hand understand the struggles of the people closest to me, I can't possibly understand the billions of struggles in the world. (I am not trying to say that I 100% cannot try to actively help solve world issues until I help Omaha. I am just saying I need this knowledge, experience, and understanding for my future endeavors). At this time, I used my global and prior knowledge about community development, to do more research about the issues in Omaha and how to solve them. This research led me back to my starting point of WHY I wasn't connected with the rest of Omaha in the first place. It was because of community isolation. As mentioned before, my city is very diverse, in terms of ethnicity, income, age, skills, etc. However, many people from my background don't realize this because we have been given the privilege of ignorance. I decided to make this my focus. To question how I can stop this disconnect. I want to be a bridge for my city. I want to glue it back together. My mission is to not only raise awareness about this disconnect, but to also actively bring people together. Even if it is just two or three people at a time, I want to bring people face to face and just make isolated communities aware of other communities' existence.]]> 2020-08-17 02:34:25 UTC https://padlet.com/ambaraghavan/geuug3si9sbt3xi6/wish/682150858