A sense of connectedness

Growing up directly off the Hualapai Indian Reservation in Arizona, I noticed poverty affecting myself and everyone around me. It seemed like no matter where I turned, people were struggling—to pay their bills, to find jobs, to get an education. The lack of economic opportunities was negatively affecting the lives of people in the beautiful community surrounding us. Adults and children were not always able to live up to their full potential and carry out their dreams, as they were often hindered by strategic socioeconomic barriers that placed solely surviving at the center of their lives. As a child, I knew this wasn’t right. I didn’t know why these inequities were occurring, but I was determined to find out.

I was fortunate enough to be able to move to Michigan for college and attend Grand Valley State University, where I took my first sociology class. I didn’t know what sociology was at the time; I simply signed up because of the course titled “social problems” of which I had experienced many! I quickly realized through this class that it was not human agency that faults people for becoming entrapped in poverty.

It is structural and historically racist policies that specifically target BIPOC and people with low incomes, placing barriers in their way of living life to their fullest potential.

A lack of data significantly contributes to these barriers, and learning this sparked my interest in research. Research is a way for me to explore the curiosities, concerns and passions that have formulated my life and express them in a meaningful way to society that can spark change. It is a way to make people more interested in social problems of populations outside of their own. As taxing as conducting research and analyzing data can be at times, it is the most rewarding feeling to take a million jumbled pieces of a problem and turn them into a bigger picture that is more accessible for people to understand. Helping people to visualize problems, to use their imaginations, and to explore other mindsets through data is how we will change society. That is what I found I love to do.

I love learning and growing, and I believe that to learn something new every day is a gift. I am beyond grateful that I was able to join the League at such a young age, still in school, and still learning. Every day, people grant me with new, valuable knowledge that connects me to the policy world around me and to each other’s unique experiences. If we never stop to listen, we miss all the opportunities to find out where we can relate to others.

Looking back at my life, these formative lived experiences have shaped my life so profoundly that I have nothing but the desire to advocate for social change through data and research. I see the strength, the perseverance, and the resilience of struggling families, and I know that if they had been given the tools, they would be light years ahead. As a new data analyst at Kids Count in Michigan, I am contributing to research in the most vulnerable and important group of society: children. Thinking back to when I was a kid, I knew then that people are innately good, and that we are all connected in a much bigger sense. I try my best to remind people of this inherent connection through research, data, and ultimately, policy that brings people together for the greater good.