Thrill-Seeking for Nerds (who want to change the world)

First, I’m going to cover what the Green New Deal is, and then some of the common concerns/myths I hear about it: how to pay for it, why it’s not a “socialist wish-list”, its popularity, the impact of COVID-19, and the ambitious timeline for getting this all done. Let’s talk about what the Green New Deal is. The Green New Deal (read the first resolution here ) is a vision for a ten-year national mobilization effort, with these goals: achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions; establishing millions of high-wage jobs and ensuring economic security for all; investing in infrastructure and industry; securing clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment for all; and promoting justice and equality. What would this look like? The resolution currently in the House enumerates these goals and projects: building smart power grids (i.e., power grids that enable customers to reduce their power use during peak...

I woke up and completely changed the layout of my blog this morning. Hope you like it! But that’s not all… Thank you so much to the 42 participants on yesterday’s webinar, Use Your Outside Voice , about global health advocacy! I had a great time, and look forward to more actions. If you missed it, you can check out a recording on the “Use Your Outside Voice Webinar” page of this website. Here are two actions you can take right now: First, for swift action on COVID-19, over 500 groups (including the Sunrise Movement) are asking Congress to support 5 principles for just COVID-19 relief and stimulus. The five principles are: 1. Health is the top priority, for all people, with no exceptions. 2. Economic relief must be provided directly to the people. 3. Rescue workers and communities, not corporate executives. 4. Make a downpayment on a regenerative economy while preventing future crises. 5. Protect our democratic process while protecting each other. If you agree, th...

The following is a guest blog (originally published on LinkedIn) from Santiago Lugo, a high school sophomore from St. Louis, Missouri: "True change originates from the core of an individual, their heart, and from an unfeigned desire to create the best society possible." These are some ideas that have been on my mind lately, and I wanted to share them out: We have a crisis of discrimination in our country. A crisis of thinking of someone as lower than us in any one aspect of their existence: their gender, their race, their intellect, their political view. By belittling others, we do nothing more than poison ourselves, giving us a sense of superiority in a world where every individual's worth is equal. Most of all, we intoxicate our society, by perpetuating the great divide that tears our nation, and our world, apart.  The United States’ discrimination crisis stems from our inherent human bias to discriminate, which for years has sculpted a society that seclude...

Since my last post about the coronavirus pandemic, the past few days have been challenging for me. I say this as a high school student, a global health advocate, and a climate activist. The co-leader of my school’s strike circle (a team of students organizing our Earth Day climate strike) has to leave the country tomorrow to get back home because he's a European exchange student. This was sudden, and we're all sad we won’t see our friend for a long time. It hit me later that we’re now missing an irreplaceable member of the group, and no one knows what the plan is. Our vision for Earth Day (April 22) was a student walkout with a rally on the football field and a local march, but now enormous crowds aren’t the way to go. And if the school cancels, it raises the question of what’s the point of striking from online classes. Thus, I started Spring Break last night with no homework but a long to-do list, trying to pick up the pieces from an exhausting few days. I immediately joined...

So. There's coronavirus now. This week, it’s impossible to escape references to the dreaded coronavirus. Walking through the halls of my school, I overhear jokes about it, students keeping each other up to date (Did you hear it’s in Illinois now? Oh my god, that’s like next door!) and lamenting that their spring break plans are cancelled. I myself have done all three of those. A few days ago, I found out that the UNICEF summit in Washington D.C., which I was so looking forward to, has been postponed due to the outbreak. My dad is even stocking up the emergency food supply in our house! If COVID-19 is the beginning of the apocalypse, we are ready... with many cans of soup But COVID-19 is more than an inconvenience. To many around the world, it is a clear and present danger to both physical health and their financial situation. In public speaking class, my teacher out of the blue asked us for our thoughts on the coronavirus. We all shrugged and waited for someon...

I know it’s over a month late to post about the Women’s March, but you'll want to hear from these three students! On January 18, 2020, thousands of people gathered in the streets for the annual Women’s March. Among them were three teenagers in St. Louis, all high school juniors with their own unique perspectives. I got to interview Alexis, Moritz, and Jasmine about their experience at the march and the advice they have for our generation. Alexis has gone to the St. Louis Women’s March for three years. This year, she recruited her classmates Moritz and Jasmine to come along. Moritz is an exchange student from Germany, who is very involved in social justice activism back home. He told me, “I haven’t had the opportunity in the U.S. to [march], so this was the first real opportunity I had.” He appears in the video above at 0:56. Jasmine, an exchange student from Ghana, had never been to a march like this before, but when Alexis asked her to come, Jasmine told herself, “Why not? I a...

When I think of the name of this blog, the ultimate example of thrill-seeking as a global health nerd is, for me, leading outreach. Recently, I've done a lot of it! A fellow RESULTS leader does outreach with me at a local church Outreach is when you build your movement by educating your community and bringing new people in. It can be a big event with dozens of people, a group discussion with a handful of participants, or a one-on-one conversation with someone. If you spread the word about your work, that’s great. If you convince someone to take action with you, even better! This church book club was learning about poverty and housing in the United States, so we came in to talk about solutions In the last week, I’ve performed three different kinds of outreach. On Thursday, I presented to two seventh grade Social Studies classes for a full class period each. We talked about the importance of student activism, learned to make phone calls to Congress, and watched a vi...