Catalyzing Compassion
How the XIV Dalai Lama Scholarship is altering how students reimagine solutions
By: Lara Nguyen
The Dalai Lama Scholarship is unlike any other grant opportunity available on campus, as it capitalizes on students’ unique ability to reimagine solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems. The inception of this scholarship began with the April 2004 visit to UCI from His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, world-renowned spiritual leader and recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, to discuss ethical leadership and personal responsibility in the new millennium. In 2005, the UC Irvine XIV Dalai Lama Endowed Scholarship was established in honor of his Holiness’ visit. This scholarship is designed to inspire a generation to launch a “compassion-in-action” project aimed at engaging the campus community to increase awareness in ethics, compassionate leadership, local and global responsibility and peace. Some issues that are particularly highlighted include mitigating economic disparity, diminishing violence, promoting gender inequity or improving cross-cultural and inter-religious cooperation, or environmental sustainability. There is truly a surplus of topics that can fit varied interests of students and bolster activism on campus. In addition, the scholarship is up to $10,00 from UCI for fees for 2019–2020, and a grant of up to $6,000 from UCI to support project costs.
As the co-recipient of the 2018 Dalai Lama Scholarship with my co-founder Elisa Tran, I speak from experience that this scholarship has altered my experience on campus and how I view my personal advocacy work through compassionate lens. This scholarship affirmed my ability as a student activist as well as an ethical leader to hold my community and myself to higher standards of equity, inclusivity and compassion. I encourage my fellow Anteaters to transform their classroom learning and passions into advocacy work to improve our campus climate and address uncomfortable topics that may bridge differences and promote unification. I want my fellow peers to know that your ideas, thoughts and solutions are validated and deserve to be developed as campus-wide initiatives. Without the motivation and inspiration from my partner, Elisa, I would have never even thought about applying to such a daunting and coveted scholarship, but sometimes as students we don’t give ourselves enough credit. With such a broad topic-selection to choose from, students have a wide array to highlight their passions while improving student awareness. If you needed a sign or a nudge to apply, this is it.
Elisa and I’s project for this upcoming 2019 year will be the 3rd annual OC Make-a-thon which addresses structural barriers that obstruct accessibility and inclusivity for people with disabilities. This event is a comprehensive 48-hour event for UCI students from a multitude of disciplines such as engineering, computer science, social sciences and business in order to devise medical device prototypes for challenges faced by the disability community. Our mission statement is to design a more equitable environment for individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, specifically on campus and in our local community. Some of the incredible solutions that have derived from this event included a motion sensor cane, an automated, retractable wheelchair umbrella and portable hearing aid charger. This year will mark the 3rd annual OC Make-a-thon, and since 2017 we have watched this initiative transform into an incredible maker movement; we anticipate more than 60 competitive participants to contribute to this year’s event.
As for Elisa Tran, her motivation derived from a genuine curiosity for knowledge. Tran states, “I have had the honor of being a Dalai Lama Scholar this past year. Coming to UCI from a community so different from home, going through SPOP and having the exposure to such a diverse population of people, gave me the courage I needed to turn my personal experiences into an opportunity for others to understand their individualized impact. This university and Dalai Lama opportunity gave us the space, unlike any other, so that we could share personal experiences to people who were open to listening and learning — especially if they had no previous experience or knowledge in the realm of accessibility. This scholarship is incredibly important for this project because I am able to continue the work with this powerful community to create positive change. Anyone applying for this honorable scholarship and fellowship can see the intense work and impact this program brings. I think addressing the disparities of ableism has been something that is neglected on campus, and something we have tried to shine a light on by leveraging our community of DOers and dreamers who have a genuine interest in making this a space for everyone.
For more information for this upcoming OC Make-a-thon email: info.ocmakeathon@gmail.com
If you have a compassion-in-action initiative for the XIV Dalai Lama Scholarship for the upcoming 2019–2010 school year, submit your proposal by February 14! For more information and the application, please visit: http://www.ofas.uci.edu/content/TypesOfAid.aspx?id=dalailama.
