-Nathaly Rodriguez
Living an Impact-Focused Life
What’s your Why?
I believe I was put on this earth to:
To find my purpose while enjoying the little things in life.
My purpose is to:
Create something that will uplift communities.
Help my family break the cycle of poverty.
I believe (my core values):
Honesty, Family (loyalty), Determination, Inclusion, Equity, Intersectional feminism, Hard work, Creativity
The one thing I must do before I die is:
Help my community in Philadelphia using knowledge I’ve gained from my life experiences. See my younger siblings grow into adults that want to help their corner of the world.
My advocates and supporters all believe I:
Am willing and able to speak up for those who may not have someone to speak up for them.
The evil I want to eradicate in this world is:
The lack of love in the world. The lack of cultural understanding.
I want to work in order to:
Protect people from the harms of systematic oppression
Show my younger siblings that anything is possible
Walk the Talk – Your How
If you are truly committed to your Why, you show it in your everyday behavior. It is all air until you do it. Working from your Why, How do you prove that you are true to your Why in all you do?
I always:
Speak up when people are going against what are my core values and morals. I always maintain my honesty and put the people I care about first. I always offer a helping hand when I see people that may need it.
I never:
Exclude someone based on their identities. Judge people based on their past. Discourage people from pursing what they want in life.
My work style is:
I like to keep things organized, make sure everyone is included, and keep a positive outlook on things.
I try to treat people:
With respect and compassion, however I always stay reserved because I do not think it is appropriate to open-up to every person one meets.
I approach problems by:
Trying to see what all the possible options are and then going with what is the best for the most people.
Victories are time to:
Reflect and find the next issue to tackle
If another attacks my point of view I:
I try to understand their POV and based off their answer I will explain mine.
If I fundamentally do not agree with what an organization or person is doing, I will:
Leave. If I deem it necessary I may also report what they are doing to the proper authorities
Your Credibility – Your Whats
You have just spent some considerable time at Lehigh, and specifically in the Global Social Impact Fellowship, on many whats. Your whats include lab research, formal presentations, writing research papers, engaging with people in other cultural contexts, building prototypes, designing and building systems, raising funds, hiring employees, etc. The whats you have collected along the way are critical to your credibility when you are entering the workforce or applying to the best graduate and professional schools. They signify a credible currency to which organizations can assign value. Create a list of your Whats that are truly reflective of your Why & How. You did these things because you believe (Why) and you acquired them in the following (How) manner. These are examples you can use in interviews.
What Have I Done | List of Experiences, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned |
Degrees, Minors, Certificates, Fellowships |
IDEAS: Environment and culture |
Research Experiences
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GSIF, Hatchery
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Inventions and Innovations
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(Social) Entrepreneurial Ventures
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Adearly, AQA
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Publications
(Formal and Informal)
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Formal Presentations
(at Lehigh and Beyond)
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Awards and
External Recognition
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Rising star OMA
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Articulating and learning from GSIF-related Experiences. For each of these prompts, we want you to identify one and only one specific and compelling event/incident/experience/moment and identify exactly how you grew personally and professionally through that moment.
Teamwork Experience
(and Lessons Learned)
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I am used to taking on the lead in projects, however working in the GSIF group has taught me that I need to learn how to trust people and learn more about what other’s strengths and weaknesses are. Along with being more open about what my strengths and weaknesses are.
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Conflict Resolution Experience
(and Lessons Learned) |
The Air Quality team hasn’t had any huge conflict to dismantle. For the most part conflicts are dissolved quickly through effective communication: everyone says what they think we should do and we go with what majority thinks is the best option.
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Leadership Experience
(and Lessons Learned)
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There have been times where group members had family emergency’s or personal things happening. I am always willing to step up when someone needs to step down from something. At times this can become overwhelming since carrying on someone’s load can be a lot. However, we are a team of six, so I remind myself that I am not alone. I know that I can speak up and there almost always someone who is willing to help carry the load.
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Dealing with Chaos, Ambiguity, and Uncertainty (and Lessons Learned) |
For last spring there was a lot of unknowns due to Covid and it required a lot of communication within our group to see how everyone was feeling and make sure we were all on the same page.
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Personally Challenging Experience (and Lessons Learned)
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When there are too many unknowns I tend to shut down. I am the type of person who wants to know what all possible outcomes are and it is difficult to do so with a lot of unknowns. AQA is a newer venture meaning there was already a lot for our team to figure out, once we found out we weren’t going to be able to travel I became very unmotivated. At the time we were relying on in country research to iron out some kinks in our project. It took a lot of positive thinking and reminding myself to look at the other options to get out of that hunch. It was not until the next semester that I can honestly say that I was no longer unmotivated. The main lesson I got from this is when obstacles come your way it is okay to give yourself sometime to reflect, however you cannot stay in that reflection zone for too long. Sooner rather than later you need to come out and start taking actionable steps to get back on track.
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Cross-cultural Experience (and Lessons Learned)
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The lesson about people’s different perception of time still sticks with me. In the GSIF course we have learned about various cultural differences that can prohibit a project from moving forward. The varying time perception one was the one that taught me the most about myself and those around me. It explained why I sometimes I see things different from my teammates’, once I saw this, I started making a more conscious effort to see things from their perspectives.
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An experience that helped you connect your GSIF work to your discipline / major.
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Air Quality, Almaty is already closely related to my major. I am currently an IDEAS major with themes in Environment and cultural studies. GSIF has given me several tools and skills that I will be able to take on with me in the future. For instances, the real life examples we looked at in class where we needed to make certain choices/decisions about what people should do gave me a better idea of what it would be like to work in another place.
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A moment that boosted your sense of agency and self-efficacy – you felt like you can speak for yourself, get stuff done, take on the world and make it better.
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When looking at the statistics on Almaty and how negatively the air quality is currently impacting people’s health made me want to do more. |
A moment where you felt like you truly have a strong sense of purpose and belonging in this dynamic, globalized interdependent world.
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Anytime I hear about what other groups are doing I am in awe that I am part of a cohort of students that have such a drive to change the world for the better. |