By Jasmine Bolding.  Jasmine is an OWEd Senior College & Career Writing Fair Scholarship Winner and 12-grade student at Coolidge High School, Washington, DC.  Part of being a student in the One World Community is that we work to connect them to opportunities in the greater DC area and world. OWEd founder and executive director Eric Goldstein is a Global Good Fund Fellow.

Because of my involvement with One World Education, on Saturday, April 25, 2015 I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to the Global Good Fund dinner. From what I learned, the Global Good Fund is an organization that works to partner with others who have the same mindset: making the world a better place. While present, I was given the opportunity to speak with many individuals from around the world who dedicate themselves to making a positive impact in society. From children’s development to creating resources to accessing natural resources, the Global Good Fund and its fellows are striving for global change.

One of the topics that stood out to me the most was when I learned about the young women in Malaysia who are not given the opportunity to climb the social ladder and consequently, are sexually exploited. This touched my heart in more ways than one. As a young woman, growing and developing into adulthood, there are many things that I have the opportunity to achieve: an education, success, a sustainable career, all of the basic necessities of life. Or so it seems. Someone else from another country might not see these aspects of life as “basic” simply because they are not given the same opportunities as I.

The women who dedicate their time to assist in educating and empowering those innocent women in Malaysia have truly inspired me to look at the world from a different perspective. And from this, I hope to one day have the ability to empower another woman who may be less fortunate than I, to strive for success.