From wallflower to blossoming changemaker, this is Scarlett’s Curious Cardinals journey so far.
Scarlett joined Curious Cardinals as a creative and highly active Junior. She had many seemingly disjointed interests and hobbies, unable to find that one ‘thing’ that connected them. Scarlett wanted an encouraging mentor to guide her in creating a passion project that would merge all of her interests and develop her writing skills.
Beyond that, Scarlett wanted something she could feel proud of; something that made her feel special and confident, unique from her older siblings, and felt like she was making a difference in the world.
Scarlett and Natachi instantly bonded over their shared love of Taylor Swift, as well as passions like mental health advocacy. Natachi helped Scarlett refine her vision, determine scope, and create a mission statement for the project.
Melding all of Scarlett’s loves, they established scarlettwrites.org, host of her project Under The Same Sky, which seeks to break down barriers and unite community around shared topics or experiences. Scarlett’s interests became “constellations”, groupings of topics. Scarlett would interview people from around the world for each topic and share them on her blog. Because no matter who you are, where you’re from, or what problems you may be facing, we all live under the same sky.
With the idea solidified, Scarlett set about designing her website and creating a list of potential interviewees. She balanced school and extracurriculars while drafting emails to potential interviewees, creating social media accounts, and prepping content for the website and its socials.
Scarlett published her first two articles, one about travel’s affect on mental health, and the other, an interview with Tom Osborn, CEO of a Kenyan-based mental health non-profit.
She also crafts a pitch for partnership opportunities with travel non-profit Travel Nitch. Scarlett’s writing and communication skills are improving, as are her interview skills and overall confidence.
Spring was a busy time for Scarlett as she authored an article based on interviews with Chilean exchange students, began planning an interview with her Israeli pen pal, promoted Under The Same Sky’s social media, worked toward securing an internship with Travel Nitch, and explored local cultural events.
Scarlett’s curiosity, empathy, and dedication really shined through as she found her voice and her ‘thing’. With Natachi’s help, Scarlett was able to successfully navigate all the new challenges of Junior year and her passion project.
Scarlett publishes her interview with her Israeli pen pal, begins working on college application essays, creates more social media content for Under The Same Sky, and brainstorms ways to expand the project into the physical world with her mentor.
She’s hitting her stride and finding her voice, displaying the traits of an empathetic leader with an evolving vision to connect people across cultures. Her strength for telling compelling travel stories shines through as she preps to document her summer trip to China.
With her mentor Natachi’s help, Scarlett has become a bold voice for change who is adept at interviewing, writing, and networking. She’s preparing her college applications and preparing to launch physical products and experiences for the Under The Same Sky brand, designed to bring people closer together.
While she’s changing the world and finishing high school, you can bet she’ll be relying on her Curious Cardinals mentor (and plenty of Taylor Swift songs) to guide her through. Watch this space to see what global impact Scarlett dreams up next.
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