From a Fellowship Application:

I suppose, as Jorges Luis Borges remarked, “The problem with lists is not what’s on them, but what has been excluded.” My leadership experience: social media and technologies. Though a novice and not my area of expertise (come to think of it, I would never claim to be an expert in any area), I am fascinated by social engineering and motivating groups around causes via technology (my definition of technology is a loose one, one that can be defined as a book, a painting, or a website). I am curious about (and thrive off) the passion and the projects of others. I also have experience in food and agriculture, perhaps because my family owned restaurants and perhaps because out of college I apprenticed to be a winemaker--laboring long hours, farming, and living the humbler side of the wine-world that the glossy magazines and marketers continue to construct. For this tinged reason, and for many observations based on abstract curiosity, I read a lot about water conservation initiatives. After all, too much water is spent in the production of wine. I would love to merge my experience in the wine industry, my fascination with technologies, and the social/economic issues of water scarcity into a practice. I love teaching children about reading and writing, and I have made it a responsibility of mine, due to the lessons of Professor Weedin, to tutor English to an ESL child, pro bono, wherever I live. I admire the work of photographers as well as architects and writers--almost equally on the same plane. Sometimes, when frustrated for having too many interests, I think about what the co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen, once said when asked what he does. “I do a lot of things,” he said. I feel, in some self-conscious shame, the same way. Do I contradict myself? Sure I do. Focus instead of expanding. Do one thing well instead of doing ‘lots of things.’ But I think this form of learning/ interacting is the best form of collaborating with the world. Gathering data from the abstract and forming something cohesive, entirely my own new thing. C’est la vie. I hope to be enriched by others’ experiences, and for me to be enriched by my curiosity. Somehow, this is a conversation of cross-disciplinary means.