People always think that I’m hopelessly naïve when I tell them that I want to spend my life doing nonprofit work. When I add that I might want to work on the legal side of the nonprofit sector, they think I’m downright idiotic, and they immediately tell me all kinds of practical things about law school debts and lifelong poverty. What they don’t know, however, is that these practical things don’t mean much to me, and that I’m just doing my duty by pursuing a career in nonprofits.
As far as lives go, mine has been very lucky. I’ve been given advantage after advantage – my parents are highly educated and accomplished, I grew up in an affluent suburb, and I’ve always been told to pursue opportunities regardless of their cost. Since arriving at UCLA, I’ve meant countless people whose lives could not be more different from my own. My friends have experienced immigration struggles, felt the effects of racial profiling, and worked multiple jobs to help support their families while I was taking tennis lessons and planning trips to Europe. Many of them have had to ignore their true dreams in order to pursue careers that will allow them to pay off debts and achieve some level of financial security.
I’m in a position in which financial considerations don’t need to be at the forefront of my mind as I choose a path for my future. In my mind, it would be a travesty not to use this position to the fullest advantage. I’m not bound by the constraints that cause others to ignore their dreams and their thoughts of saving the world, so what excuse do I have not to do everything that I can to make a real difference? I didn’t do anything to deserve the advantages that I’ve been given, and as a winner in the lottery of life, I feel that I have a natural obligation to spread these advantages to others. Materially, I have everything that I need – I’m driven not by a desire for money, but by a desire to do as much good as I can. I feel most alive when I’m pursuing this passion, and I can’t imagine a better use of my time and abilities than to give back to others.
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