WHAT IS YOUR CULTURE/HERITAGE?
I am russian, with my dad and his family being immigrants from the former Soviet Union. My mother's family also immigrated from the former USSR.
WHAT MADE YOU JOIN HER CULTURE?
I saw Kate Avino posting about it on Facebook after connecting with her through the Her Campus High School Ambassador program. I did some reading on the site, and fell in love with its articles, voice, and message.
HOW COULD YOU SEE CULTURAL AWARENESS CHANGE THE WORLD?
If people are more aware of culture, they are less likely to discriminate. This will help in uniting nations and ending wars based on misinterpretations of a culture. It can connect people into conquering problems together once we gain a basic underlying understanding of each other and our backgrounds and beliefs.
WHAT'S THE WORST PROBLEM IN THE WORLD TODAY?
The worst problem in the world today is the discrimination against LGBT and questioning people, or anybody who doesn't fit society's typical gender labels. There are violent protests, wars, prejudice, and mistreatment of these people everywhere causing tension between families and even countries!
HOW DO YOU THINK WE CAN FIX THAT PROBLEM?
I think that if we listen to each other and open up our minds to differences between people, we can come to the understanding that although we are different, we are all people. Sometimes, a little discomfort and shaking up the status quo is good! Just look back at history with slavery and African American prejudice.
WHAT'S ONE FAMILY TRADITION THAT YOU WANT TO PASS ONTO YOUR CHILDREN?
I want to pass on speaking russian to my children. I think that it is important that they know their native language and culture, and have the ability to communicate with their future great-grandparents and future grandfather.
WHICH WOMEN INSPIRE YOU?
Sonya Sotomayor inspires me. She truly created an incredible career for herself coming from a disadvantaged background. I love that she stood for hard work and mistakes, and advocated for putting yourself into challenging situations. She's inspired me to work my hardest and push myself past my limits in all areas of life.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF A #CULTUREREVOLUTION?
A culture revolution is a widespread newfound cross-cultural knowledge between various types of people. It's a new understanding, acceptance, and viewpoint on cultures that you may not agree with or want to be a part of, but that you accept for what it is and understand. It's the idea that we all have one underlying culture- humanity. Women can relate to it because we know that our culture of being a woman, as widespread as it is, gets criticized daily. If the other genders can see it, we can all become a more unified people.
APRIL 2014
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