The desire to be empowered amongst females is incredible. People often overlook the dreams of the oppressed and believe that the current system is what will work best for them. The fact that ten times the amount of girls showed interest in this school proves just how powerful an opportunity can be and how many people are willing to risk uncertainty to try something new. This is a great example of faith over fear because the families of these 100 girls most likely did not agree with their decisions. They were able to rise above pressure from the outside to express themselves and their desire for change and opportunity.

One of my favorite analogies for symbiotic growth is "In high tide, all ships rise." This means that when one group has success, all groups share that same success. If you want to see a dramatic change in a community, empowering half of the population is a great place to start. Growing up, I was able to see females empowered through learning on a daily basis. The classes that were stereotypically male dominant were often filled with females who performed better than most males. With these opportunities to establish themselves in society, women will find themselves in positions of power more and more often as time goes on.

This celebration where would-be-waste is served has me thinking of how much food is wasted on holidays. No matter what holiday my family celebrates, they prepare a large amount of food. This food is always sent home with relatives or packed up and put in the fridge. I definitely do some dame to the leftovers, there are always some that find there way into the trash. I know this same thing probably happens with my relatives as well. If this same pattern occurs in most families, holidays are probably a time where food waste is incredibly high. I really like the idea of celebrating around saving food and will show this TED talk to my family to pitch the idea of a waste free holiday. I am also very tempted to dumpster dive at a grocery store to see what free goods I can accumulate. My crime would be for a good cause. My vigilante name would be Captain Compost.

Some of the most nutritious parts of animals are considered 'gross' in western society. A liver, which is the most nutrient dense organ, gets a bad rap while us Americans put down hot dogs (ground up tissue encased in intestine) like no ones business. The culinary world has the ability to drive diet trends based on how they can popularize dishes. There has been a recent plant-based trend that has hit fast food restaurants and the food world as a whole. It would be interesting to see if offering new and exciting dishes made from less popular organs could reduce waste. If Popeyes offered a spicy fried liver sandwich, I would most certainly be in line to try it. Obesity could be impacted in multiple ways. Consuming more calorie dense foods could cause obesity to increase. It could also cause people to become full quicker and eat less total calories, which would have the ability to decrease obesity.

I used to work in a sandwich shop and we would consistently throw away the bread butts. I would often make grilled cheese sandwiches with them when I didn't feel like spending money on food. I worked there for 5 years, so I probably contributed to many pounds of wasted food. We also threw away most of the vegetables we sold. The stem of broccoli is often viewed as waste, but when steamed, it tastes so good. As an employee of a restaurant, eating the would be waste is one of the best solutions to the waste problem. The business has no right to be upset with you as you are not consuming their marketed product, and they would be wasting that money spent anyway. You are not only eliminating waste, but saving the food that you would've eaten to be sold. This leaves more profit for your business. So to all of my fellow restauranters, eat up those scraps!

For a long time, I would have been thrilled with getting a C-. That is what minimum effort got me in school. If that is how much effort the world is putting into our sustainability, I am concerned for our future. My C- mindset led me to academic dismissal from University and a slew of personal issues. If the world continues this trend, there may not be a world for future generations to prosper in. I am hopeful that as a collective, the world and its people can find new solutions to social and environmental issues instead of just brushing them off to the side. I am excited to play my part as an individual in trying to spread awareness on how to carry out these sustainability goals. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about these goals in an academic setting and discuss their implications with my peers.

If every country in the world chose to prioritize education, the literacy rate would be close to one-hundred percent. Young people would have the opportunity to learn multiple languages, making global communication possible. Providing a quality education for all citizens of the world will make each generation progressively better equipped to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. If the well-being of humanity is placed as a priority, I wonder what the world would look like in the year 2100? What kind of new resources will be used to fuel our new world? I am extremely interested in seeing how we as a planet evolve to meet these goals for sustainable life.

Food has become a business rather than a basic human need. What is naturally a source of energy for people has been engineered into a product designed to maximize profit. No wonder obesity is an epidemic when you have McDonalds boasting about serving over 1 Billion guests.

A corporation that I absolutely despise is Altria Inc. They own most of Big Tobacco in the United States. So many individuals suffer from health complications including death, while only the corporation benefits from sales.

In order to reach the SDGs, companies will need to place costs to the environment, including the consumer, ahead of profit.

Treating another individual with malice is done to inflate the ego of the individual who is causing harm. This is usually caused by someone's insecurity and a desire to feel better than they currently do.

The momentary satisfaction of putting someone down is often followed by substantially more guilt than the original pleasure. To treat others with compassion not only saves them from suffering, but it can save you from pain as well.

When I catch myself inflicting ill will on another, I try to ask myself what are my real intentions of doing so? It usually comes back to me trying to cover up one sort of insecurity or another.

No one knows everything there is to know. It is impossible to learn more if one carries around the belief that they know everything. A mind that is open to new perspectives is ever expanding and capable of making lots of new friends.

An important principle pertaining to compassion is humility. It is often hard (for me) to realize that I am not the center of the universe. Sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step back and try to comprehend how much stuff there really is out there. Meditation often helps me to attain humility.

Personally, I love to know that I am not alone. When someone else acknowledges something I say or shares how they can relate, there is a connection formed instantly that makes me (and hopefully the other person) feel better.

I am curious as to how Covid and social isolation has affected peoples capacity for compassion. Have people found new ways to be compassionate?

A lot of what I see on social media is lacking empathy towards others. What ways can people virtually show compassion?