Senior Swimmer Grows Passion for Human Rights
10/6/2015 11:28:00 AM | General, Women's Swimming and Diving, David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program
By Kelly Boutelle, Northwestern Correspondent
Ellen Anderson has a lot to brag about and a lot to be proud of, although she remains modest. When she is not leading the swim team, setting top-program times in her freestyle events or collaborating with fellow student-athletes in NU for Life, she is excelling in the classroom as both an economics and statistics double major.
As if that wasn't all enough, she is also an incredibly genuine and kind-hearted person.
For a 21-year-old, her drive and passion for helping others is unmatched. She believes that her interest in human rights and aid programs came from growing up in Montgomery Village, a small suburb outside of Washington, D.C.
"Where I live, everything is politically oriented," Anderson said. "This got me interested in government and nonprofit issues."
As for human rights, "My high school was extremely diverse. White was the minority. There was a wide range of income levels and socioeconomic backgrounds that I think prepared me for college. I am so grateful that I grew up in that area—it really showed me that life is not in a vacuum."
Growing up with two older siblings also enriched her competitive attitude. Both her brother and her sister swam in high school.
"You always want to be the better athlete than your siblings," she laughed.
Last year, Anderson received an incredible opportunity last year to develop her already top-notch skills by receiving the Irving Kabiller Memorial Award for Excellence in Character, Commitment, and Community. As one of five winners, she received a $5,000 grant to be used for her own professional development.
"At the time I won the award I was in a statistics class focused on human rights," Anderson said. "I have always had an interest in social justice and human rights but I have also loved math, so I had trouble combining the two. That class really showed me what you can learn about people and populations through statistics. It was perfect for me," Anderson said.
She took the grant and ran with it, as the saying goes. Except it was more like a full sprint. In the past year, she has attended four different conferences focused on the themes of human rights, poverty, alleviation and international development.
The first event was Amnesty International's Annual Conference and General Meeting in Brooklyn, New York, where she attended workshops and panels on human rights activism.
Naturally, Anderson brought everything she learned at this conference back to Northwestern - literally.
"Going to that conference inspired me to start an Amnesty chapter at Northwestern," she said. "I saw all these motivated and passionate college and high school student groups there and I thought it was crazy we didn't have an active chapter before."
On the tail end of spring break earlier this year, she went to the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington, D.C., where she sat in on academic paper presentations on various topics in land tenure, poverty and economic development. She also attended a seminar by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a research organization based out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston. last week, that focused on the impact of aid and policy interventions aimed at fighting poverty.
Her favorite and most rewarding experience, she said, was when she traveled to Washington, D.C. in the first week of September to job shadow and conduct informational interviews in her field of interest. The event included a diverse group of people that allowed her to explore what her interests were and learn as much as she could about those subjects.
"I shadowed these amazing people like the director of AmeriCorps VISTA and many professionals at the U.S. Agency for International Development, but my favorite piece of advice came from a fellow on the White House Council on Women and Girls," Anderson said. "She told me to look for jobs where you're constantly learning and falling in love with what you're doing. If you find a career like that, you'll never be bored."
Anderson was nominated for the award by her coach, which just shows the respect and admiration she has earned throughout her years. She believes that swimming is what has opened so many doors for her at Northwestern.
For now, like many college seniors, Anderson is focused on getting a job. However, unlike many college seniors, her career pursuits have the potential to aid developing countries and change the world.
Ellen Anderson has a lot to brag about and a lot to be proud of, although she remains modest. When she is not leading the swim team, setting top-program times in her freestyle events or collaborating with fellow student-athletes in NU for Life, she is excelling in the classroom as both an economics and statistics double major.
As if that wasn't all enough, she is also an incredibly genuine and kind-hearted person.
For a 21-year-old, her drive and passion for helping others is unmatched. She believes that her interest in human rights and aid programs came from growing up in Montgomery Village, a small suburb outside of Washington, D.C.
"Where I live, everything is politically oriented," Anderson said. "This got me interested in government and nonprofit issues."
As for human rights, "My high school was extremely diverse. White was the minority. There was a wide range of income levels and socioeconomic backgrounds that I think prepared me for college. I am so grateful that I grew up in that area—it really showed me that life is not in a vacuum."
Growing up with two older siblings also enriched her competitive attitude. Both her brother and her sister swam in high school.
"You always want to be the better athlete than your siblings," she laughed.
Last year, Anderson received an incredible opportunity last year to develop her already top-notch skills by receiving the Irving Kabiller Memorial Award for Excellence in Character, Commitment, and Community. As one of five winners, she received a $5,000 grant to be used for her own professional development.
"At the time I won the award I was in a statistics class focused on human rights," Anderson said. "I have always had an interest in social justice and human rights but I have also loved math, so I had trouble combining the two. That class really showed me what you can learn about people and populations through statistics. It was perfect for me," Anderson said.
She took the grant and ran with it, as the saying goes. Except it was more like a full sprint. In the past year, she has attended four different conferences focused on the themes of human rights, poverty, alleviation and international development.
The first event was Amnesty International's Annual Conference and General Meeting in Brooklyn, New York, where she attended workshops and panels on human rights activism.
Naturally, Anderson brought everything she learned at this conference back to Northwestern - literally.
"Going to that conference inspired me to start an Amnesty chapter at Northwestern," she said. "I saw all these motivated and passionate college and high school student groups there and I thought it was crazy we didn't have an active chapter before."
On the tail end of spring break earlier this year, she went to the World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington, D.C., where she sat in on academic paper presentations on various topics in land tenure, poverty and economic development. She also attended a seminar by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, a research organization based out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston. last week, that focused on the impact of aid and policy interventions aimed at fighting poverty.
Her favorite and most rewarding experience, she said, was when she traveled to Washington, D.C. in the first week of September to job shadow and conduct informational interviews in her field of interest. The event included a diverse group of people that allowed her to explore what her interests were and learn as much as she could about those subjects.
"I shadowed these amazing people like the director of AmeriCorps VISTA and many professionals at the U.S. Agency for International Development, but my favorite piece of advice came from a fellow on the White House Council on Women and Girls," Anderson said. "She told me to look for jobs where you're constantly learning and falling in love with what you're doing. If you find a career like that, you'll never be bored."
Anderson was nominated for the award by her coach, which just shows the respect and admiration she has earned throughout her years. She believes that swimming is what has opened so many doors for her at Northwestern.
For now, like many college seniors, Anderson is focused on getting a job. However, unlike many college seniors, her career pursuits have the potential to aid developing countries and change the world.
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