Ngima Wambugu, India 2015

In summer 2015 I traveled to India with the International Leadership Exchange Program. Since then I have been on a great momentum on building myself and creating the world I want to see. In addition, I am totally missing India and my travel buddies. This trip was so transformational for me that I vowed when I came back home, I would feed my dreams and starve my fears. I know it's common for people to say they are going to work on themselves, but say it in vain. I on the other hand have been committed to excellence thus far and don't plan on failing.

One of my biggest accomplishments since ILE is that I have enrolled into the BA/MPA program. I started taking graduate courses last semester before I finished my undergraduate degree in Fall 2016. Now I am full time graduate student on track to getting a Masters in Public Administration in a year. Although my family and friends were very supportive of my decision, I needed to make sure that this was the best decision for me. Graduate school is no joke but I believe it is going to take me many paces forward towards my international career dream.

I am also proud to be working at my school, School of Public Administration and Affairs, as a research assistant. Since Fall 2016 I have worked alongside the Chief Editor Jonathan Wexler , Social Media Representative Jade McClain and Interim Dean Ryzin. It so awesome! I have always wanted a job on campus and now I get to do it in an environment I love and am always in.

After ILE I gained a lot more confidence in my identity and really began to see the limitless potential I have. Because of this trip I ran for a position in the Student Government Association (SGA). I had the honor to serve for 2 terms (2015-2016) as Community Outreach Senator and Senator at Large. I was able to create positive change on my campus with other outstanding peers. A few had even traveled with ILE ,so we had more than one thing in common.

As an undergraduate student I was heavily involved on campus and surrounding Newark area. I was involved with SGA and Them Cloud Kids organization. I am a founder of Them Cloud Kids, which is a non-profit and student organization on Rutgers Newark campus. With the organizations I was committed to, I did a lot of community work, created partnerships and produced programs which were never done before in Newark or on Rutgers Newark campus.

However, as of 2017 I have really put a pause on all my organizational involvements.The only project I am working on now is alongside the Haitian Association Students at Rutgers(HASAR) and DIversity Affair Senator. It is a Haiti Relief Fundraising Task Force and we want to create a fundraiser and campaign to raise awareness about the unrecovered places in Haiti who got affected by the earthquake. Our collective goal is to raise enough money to personally go and give a substantial amount of renewable energy called LuminAID.

My motto for 2017 is pray/believe more, say less and do more! I really want to find clarity and be able to explain to others, like employees or friends, what I would like to personally excel in. I have a lot of passions and I know I am great at many things. Being a graduate student has made me prioritize on what I want to put my energy towards and what I won't prioritize on anymore.With my capstone coming soon, I will have figured out what my niche career wise. Being intentional and purposeful is quite important for me. This is the same reason why I traveled to India with ILE, because i knew it was an once in a time experience that I would grow from.

The only place I have traveled to was Iowa over the summer of 2016 to visit my family. I plan on traveling after I walk in the May 2017 commencement for my BA in Public Administration and Affairs and minor in Business Administration.Unfortunately, because I am always grinding it won't be a long trip because I am taking summer courses. This will be a mini graduation present for myself. I want to plan the trip by myself for the first time, even if I go with or without friends. I haven’t picked a location just yet but I have been looking for flights and budgeting for countries like India, Caribbean Islands and different parts of Africa.

I also plan on traveling after I complete my MPA in May 2018. My number one goal after graduation is to get a great paying job in Kenya, my home country.Preferably in the area of NGO, government or public sector. I realized I was pushing this dream way to far ,as a long term goal. I have so much energy as a 22 year old.I would love to move back there for at least a year and start my international career; working under an excellent organization as I build my own businesses.

This ILE trip has significantly affected my life and I am forever grateful to everyone who contributed to my experience. This was the first trip ever I took with fellow classmates and felt like we had a powerful and compatible group dynamic.Even though none of us knew each other, doing group exercises before we left the country really helped build our relationships and understand everyone’s personality.

I feel in love with India, from their rich vibrant colors to the food and humble people. It reminded me a lot of Kenya. I made a lifelong connection with people we met in India such as community activist, tour guides and participants in the ILE program such as Dean Walton, graduate coordinator Jay Patel and program coordinator Nikita Pandit. At first I was super nervous about meeting Dean Walton and his team but after this trip I realized the importance of individuals like him. He is one of many in the Office of Student Life and Leadership who are changing the way scholars can learn outside of the classroom and challenging students to hone in on who they really are. This once in a lifetime experience showed me how the impact of civil servants is super powerful. Imagine we traveled to different NGO’s and learned about the work they were doing and it blew my socks off.This first hand experience made me so much more motivated to not give up on my dreams of creating a system or process that would help society. I will leave a mark in this life that many others will know about.

Below I have attached a photo of me in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York last year. I had the opportunity to check in leaders from all over the world for an event called Invest in Cote D'ivoire. In this event the government of Cote D'ivoire invited organizations and world leaders to learn about the different opportunities being made available for investments. I had the privilege of signing people in from the African and French diaspora, network with high profile officials and just simply be immersed in an environment I can see myself creating one day.

I believe this experience and photo represents my experience in ILE because everyday I am learning to be a better version of myself. When I traveled to India I wanted to soak everything in and be present. I think I was able to accomplish that. Where I am at right now in life is exactly where I need to be. I don’t want to rush my purpose or destiny for my life that is why I taking a lot of time to learn and engage in things I know will be an investment to my life.

#InternationalLeadershipExchange