As an engineering student, I have begun to acquire a set of technical skills that allow me to solve specific challenges. These challenges span a wide variety of cases and fields, and the skills I have learned can also be applied outside of their specified domain. However, engineering classes say very little about how to choose a problem to solve or normatively what issues we should spend our time working on. As a philosophy student, I have studied ethics and scope of science to figure out what challenges we as a species should try to tackle. Many different viewpoints exist that argue how we should spend our time and what we should focus on, and I have started forming my own view. However, the problems we tackle in philosophy are often more abstract or idealized, and thus lose some of the nuances that exist in the real world. That’s where LACS 20 comes in. By using Nicaragua as case study, I hope to discover how to most effectively follow my moral philosophy and to make sure that I am aware of all of the consequences of my actions, intended or otherwise.

LACS 20, I hope, will introduce real world cases that allow me to learn about international development, developing communities, and different cultures, that I otherwise would have no idea about. By approaching a culture and nation holistically, studying its history, breaking down oversimplifications or stereotypes, and finding similarities between life in Nicaragua and my life, I plan on broadening my global perspective and beginning to grasp a more realistic picture of what the world is actually like. I want to be able to apply ideas I have learned to other areas, both geographic and intellectual, to discover the scope of the truths I have found.

I see participating in the CCESP as a culminating experience for LACS 20. I will get to see first hand the culture and region that I will have studied, and experience, briefly, a different way of life. As a member of the CD team, I intend to form relationships with community members and get to know what their lives are like on a more personal level. This trip is ideal for me, since I have always been in love with the idea of combining service and travel, but am always afraid of the unintended negative consequences associated with voluntourism. By taking a full course before traveling, I will avoid being the “ignorant westerner” who thinks that he is the savior of this community, about which he knows so little. Through education, I hope to become more aware of the true impact that we will be having on the community we work with, and be able to have a lasting positive impact on their lives. I love that Dartmouth sends a trip to Nicaragua every year and that we work with a local NGO, because that means there is a demonstrated need for and continuity in the work that we will be doing. I also know that I will gain a lot by travelling to a part of the world that will be totally different from anything I have experienced prior, and that it has the potential to shape my goals and worldview.

After taking this class, I expect to be fully prepared to travel to Nicaragua and be vaguely aware of what life is like there and the nuances of culture and politics. I hope to gain insight into the role that developed nations can play in aiding in the development of developing nations, and to understand the scope of the impact I personally can have. My general interest in altruism and helping others, along with my technical engineering skills and physical fitness, should allow me to fully engage in the CCESP trip and with the local Nicaraguan community. My study of philosophy will push me to think critically about the the impact we are having and to avoid making false assumptions.