When I started graduate school, I never expected to win the lottery. However, I soon found out that the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics regularly gives away opportunities for the community to chat with notable celebrities–all determined from filling out an online form and waiting for the luck of the draw! After losing the lottery for Kyrie Irving and John Kerry, I kept my hopes appropriately low. But then! I saw the message I was finally waiting for:
I won the lottery to see Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai speak in the cozy Kennedy School forum. That evening, I waited eagerly in line among folks from throughout Harvard and the wider community. I spoke with a teacher leading a group of 6th grade student leaders to the event, and we gushed with shared excitement about this opportunity. Since starting grad school, I felt a twinge of nostalgia for interacting with enthusiastic youth in a class setting.
The venue was packed, and I found a seat among some other lucky HGSE classmates. We sat alongside the winding balcony-like corridors surrounding the JFK forum space. Malala’s voice echoed throughout the room as she spoke about her classes at Oxford, her new book, and her hopes for the future. She graciously accepted the HKS Gleisman International Activist Award, and urged US politicians to show compassion for refugees and urged us to think critically about how we can confront the injustices in today’s world.
New York’s then Representative-elect and Instagram celebrity Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was another guest at the event. I recall her asking a question to Malala about the role of men in uplifting women and advocating for gender equity, particularly in relationship with our fathers, brothers, and other men in our lives.
This experience was humbling and inspiring. Prior to starting school at Harvard, I was feeling restless at my old job, often toeing the line between feeling hungry to broaden my potential to effect social change and disenchanted with surrounding systems and structures that routinely harmed my students, their families, and our communities. HGSE has been pushing me beyond my comfort zone into spaces where I explored new ways of thinking, prompting me to wonder if I belonged in a space steeped in so much privilege and elitism. Despite the end-of-semester fatigue and dark winter blues, I was moved to see powerful women of color like Alexandria and Malala sharing their stories and bringing light to communities often left in the dark. Although it was just one evening, it has stuck with me as I continue to navigate Harvard and figure out where my community power can thrive to disrupt systems of inequity.
Blog post written by Amy Jiravisitcul. Photos provided by Amy Jiravisitcul.
Hello, I’m Amy! This is my 5th year living in Boston. Prior to starting the EPM program at HGSE, I spent three years working at an education non-profit in the city that worked with middle school students in an academic out-of-school time program. Prior to that, I spent a year teaching foreign language at a Boston charter school and a year teaching in rural southern China. My hobbies include riding my bike, eating, political organizing, and reflecting on Asian American identity.
HGSE Admissions Blog 