By Rosie Li, Tulane Student and Guest Blogger

Ashoka U was definitely one of the greatest experiences I have had in college. It was so interesting to step into the world of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. The collective passion and ideas were very powerful. Wherever I went, I met passionate people who were trying to figure out a better idea, and I learned new ideas and initiatives that widened my perspective from whoever I talked to. Simply being there was very inspiring. I was very fortunate to make connections and develope relationships with some interesting people. For example, there was an entrepreneur from Pakistan who built 10 schools in his country to support low-income children and we became great friends.

At the Cordes Award Ceremony, I encountered a super exciting project. It was an initiative that presents the narratives of different social entrepreneurs in the Brown University community. The format of storytelling was really appealing to me. I personally am very interested in education in New Orleans. And I think storytelling goes really well in the context of radical education reforms in New Orleans. With different sides arguing based on their rationale, it is important to figure out what actually is happening in New Orleans. Therefore, I really wish to start a similar project here.

Ashoka U allowed me to gain more insight into social innovation and see the impact produced by active thoughtful changes. It encouraged me to focus more on producing impact in the traditional disciplinary study and inspired me to consider building bridges among academia, policy and initiatives as my professional goals.