Students from around the world wrote essays as part of their application for leadership positions with END7 for the upcoming academic year. Two students were awarded scholarships to attend the Millennium Campus Conference in Washington, DC. We are publishing the best essays on our blog during the Millennium Campus Conference this week. Runner-up Bailey Hilton of James Madison University (Harrisonburg, Virginia) wrote this essay in response to the prompt “How do you think students and young people can be agents of meaningful change contributing to the fight against NTDs?:”
By Bailey Hilton
James Madison University
I, for one, feel very lucky to be considered a millennial. In my lifetime I have seen technology advance from cassette tapes, to CDs, to mp3 files; and from VHS tapes, to DVDs, to streaming movies on demand. We are the first generation to take computerized tests and to learn online. We are otherwise known as Generation Y, or Generation “Why,” because we ask so many questions. I believe that my generation is the powerhouse that is going to change the world with innovation, intelligence, and forward thinking.
On March 1, 2016, I attended the END7 Student Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. alongside forty other college students representing END7 from all across the United States. Together we met with 39 offices of U.S. senators and representatives to discuss the United States Agency for International Development’s Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Program budget. My group had a meeting with the office of Senator Diane Feinstein of California. The moment that I so vividly remember from that meeting was when the senator’s advisor told us that speaking to us about this issue we were so passionate about gave her hope for our generation, and that she felt confident that the future is in the right hands. Though she may not have fully shared our particular passion for NTDs, our meeting reinforced her belief in our generation’s ability to make a difference in our country and in the world.
After my experience at the END7 Student Advocacy Day, I am confident that if my small group could leave an impression on the most important policymakers in the U.S. government, then we can certainly make an impact on our peers back at our respective schools. After returning from Washington, I decided to get more involved in the fight against NTDs and was elected President of the Dukes Fighting NTDs Club at James Madison University.
Every student attending the Millennium Campus Conference shares a passion for being a catalyst of change within their communities, country, and the world. We all share a common goal: to make the world a better place. One of our most important talking points from Student Advocacy Day described the impact that NTDs could have on every aspect of a patient’s life: their overall health, their education, their jobs, and their families. If I were selected for this scholarship to attend the conference, I would use this talking point to create a connection between NTDs and the causes that others in attendance are passionate about. For example, if someone at the conference is attending on behalf of their organization that focuses on HIV and AIDS, I could show the relationship between treatment of NTDs and decreased risk of women contracting HIV. By bringing attention to this connection, I believe I will be able to motivate new students to join our campaign and the fight to end NTDs.
An important concept that comes into play here is reciprocal determinism, which states that our decisions can be impacted by our environment, and vice versa. This concept was very important in my Health Behavior Change class and I think that it applies well in this particular scenario. I believe that if I can create a connection between myself and others, as well as between my organization (END7 and Dukes Fighting NTDs) and the organizations that others are passionate about, together our choices will positively impact the environment (the world, and those impacted by NTDs). In turn as the environment improves, our choices will change and evolve to continue to make an impact. I believe that my vision could have widespread impact not only on the END7 campaign, but also into other issues as we all come together and work to achieve our common goal of making the world a better, healthier place for all.