People >
Arielle Balbus
Providence Coordinator
I am a senior International Development Studies major at Brown University. I love working with high school students, and have been incredibly inspired by the passion, energy and creativity of Generation Citizen mentees. During my own high school experience, my most important lessons took place off-campus in Washington DC, where I found that the value of my education lay in how I applied it to shape my local and international community. This made me way more excited about school! Teachers who empowered me to question the status quo, solidify my values and assert my voice have entirely shaped my self-image and aspirations, and I am drawn to Generation Citizen because I believe that empowerment should be at the core of education.
My primary academic focus is international public health, and I am especially interested in how education and collective action shape heath determinants, practices and outcomes. As a student at Brown, I have also been part of Project Health, the Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment Program (BRYTE), the International Public Health Coalition and Extension Dance Company. I am extremely excited for GC 2010, and can’t wait to see what GC’ers will accomplish inside the classroom and beyond.