What will their future look like?
What will the future of work be like in ten years? We traveled the country and asked learners how they envision their lives and careers ten years down the road.
From educational filmmaking to supporting the public health of LGBTQ+ communities to working on meaningful legislation, these students are mastering the human skills that will help them to adapt, grow, and collaborate in their fields.
Here are their stories
Kate Aguilar
Kate, the middle child of two immigrant parents, comes from a long line of immigrants, refugees, and displaced people, and has always itched to put down roots. A born-and-raised Miamian, she wants to create a space for herself in this large, but connected community. While studying Biochemistry and Psychology at Florida International University, Kate has found that the world is much larger than Miami's unique microcosm of culture and art. At the very root of it all, she hopes to blend science and art, logic and sympathy, in a fast-paced globalized society.
“One skill that I’ve learned, especially throughout my university years, is listening to people. Set aside your own views and let their eyes take over the world for you. That is very important in cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies — not seeing something through a black and white lens.”
— Kate Aguilar, BioChem & Psychology, Florida International University
Megan Forsythe
Megan is a Journalism major and sophomore at Boston University. As a strong believer in using hard data as an honest way to navigate through a divisive, heated news climate, she tries to be as unbiased as possible in her work. When words aren’t enough, she feels that photography and street art can be powerful channels for telling stories as well, and she develops those talents in her spare time.
“I know there’s a lot of bias that comes in now, especially in our current political climate, but I’ve always thought, especially in news writing, the facts are the only truth out there. I think a responsible journalist is one who reports unbiasedly. They don’t try to sway their readers with what they’re saying, they just report on the facts because that’s the truth. There is nothing more to it.”
— Megan Forsythe, Journalism, Boston University
Juancy Matos
Juancy is a talented student filmmaker and photographer originally from Cuba. He believes deeply in equitable learning and is passionate about helping those living on society’s fringes and documenting their stories. When he isn’t spending his weekends dancing and capturing performance art, he’s studying and researching world cinema and discussing personal and societal liberation in book clubs around Miami.
“Miami is a really complicated space for education because there are so few schools here. A lot of people who come here or were raised here have to make their own space for thinking and education because they aren’t being particularly supported on an institutional level … I would like to be in a position to provide people the resources they need to educate and liberate themselves.”
— Juancy Matos, Film, Miami
Tengi Shiga
A Japanese citizen born in China and raised in the Midwest, Tengi has found city life as a student in Boston to be a huge change. As a moderate-conservative Political Science major at Boston University, she loves the excitement of debate and feels that if Americans talk it out we’ll find that we have more in common than we realize. She is currently working with projects to develop and improve accessibility and economic revenue to areas of Boston and hopes to make her own political impact after college.
“The future of my industry is really exciting because of the different technologies that get applied to politics. Social media has a great ability to bring information to constituencies. The internship that I’ve been doing uses social media on behalf of candidates and on behalf of people already in office to advertise things like town halls and new policies they are fighting for, and explain any kind of issues and platforms they think are really important.”
— Tengi Shiga, Political Science & Law, Boston University