A World We Dare To Imagine

     Returning agency to those who have lost their ability to make many decisions for themselves is an idea that has been applied to many social efforts recently. Agency entitles an individual to the ability to make decisions via their own free will without constraints they cannot control. For example, Novogratz's work in Africa has returned the financial agency to many individuals around the continent. My first step in deciding on a method for bringing positive change to the world would be to identify an issue where people in need have lost agency of some sort. Education is an area I could see having the potential to bring tremendous change to the world. Many organizations attempt to start new schools in afflicted areas but do not account for how to make those schools long lasting. Connecting children in poor countries to teachers and volunteers in developed nations via the internet is an idea I have been contemplating.

    Another topic I have been reading about recently is the massive coral bleachings that have been occurring around the world. Rising ocean temperatures that have resulted from climate change are the cause of the bleachings. When sea temperatures become too hot the algae living within the coral is forced out or destroyed. The algae symbiotically live within the coral and without the algae, the coral simply becomes a brittle, white skeleton - is known as bleaching. Fortunately, researchers have discovered that bleaching can be reversed. They discovered that previously dead coral had come back to life due to algae returning to populate it. Scientists and researchers are still trying to discover how exactly the algae or coral adapt to withstand these bleaching events, but new discoveries are to come soon. I think this topic is extremely interesting as coral reefs are home to millions of species and without these great underwater forests, many species would cease to exist. Working to reverse or halt the damage done by climate change is an important topic as well that directly affects this issue with marine life.

   Sports are a final area I may explore for this final project. Many incredible athletes have come from poor areas which have emphasized sports as a method for moving up in society. Classes I have taken in the Sports Media field have also revealed that children who are engaged in a positive sports environment are more likely to be successful. I think developing a program that teaches kids how to play the game as well as coach the game would be valuable. Ensuring children have a positive sports experience is essential as many kids can be scarred by a bad time on the baseball diamond or soccer field. Incorporating individuals into the program who started as athletes but now desire to engage in coaching would also breed a positive environment as everyone would be familiar with expectations and goals.