Heart, Diligence, and Sacrifice

Ki’tay is a student at American University completing a joint MPA/BA in Public Administration and  Law and Society. More importantly, he is a social justice advocate attempting to be a pioneer of possibility.  His focus is on the incubation of social innovation specific to the realm of international disability policy. Within this pursuit, he focuses on community integration, social entrepreneurship and economic empowerment.

Outside of academia, Ki’tay is an active member of the AU Debate Society and Disability Rights Coalition. He has a strong commitment to racial justice and queer advocacy and has worked extensively on AU’s campus to create a more inclusive environment for people of color and the LGBTQ community. He regularly leads workshops at local universities and high schools in the D.C area on the disability rights movement, ableism and social justice in relation to disability rights. Post-college, Ki’tay will pursue a career in disability policy and social enterprise. Ki’tay is completing his Youth in Development (YiD) internship at Handicap International, which is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. The YiD internship program brought its first cohort of seven students with disabilities from across the U.S. to complete internships at various international organizations in the Washington, DC, area in the summer of 2013. In this blog post, Ki’tay ponders his lifelong career goals.

Connect with Ki’tay Davidson via his LinkedIn profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/ki-tay-davidson/45/320/7a7

As I approach the halfway point of my internship I have come to a conclusion.

There is buffet of opportunity ahead of me.

I’ve always been the diligent and ambitious individual. Seeking out new opportunities, overworking myself and jumping at the idea of a new project. Yet,   for the first time, I am not jumping in and seeking out new opportunities. I am reflecting. I am reflecting on what my heart desires and how I can utilize myself in the most effective way possible. Yes, I want to pursue disability work, but where does this take me and how will I feel personally fulfilled?

At Handicap International, I essentially edit grants and quarterly reports. It is quite different from any internship I’ve had and I am continually realizing that I want to do “more”. I have completed internship from youth engagement to social innovation to international disability work.  Each of these opportunities has challenged me to reimagine and rethink my post college life. I want to do something amazing.

In all honesty, I do not know what “amazing” is or what “more” is. But, I do know I won’t settle for anything that doesn’t take all of my heart, diligence and sacrifice.

The beauty of experiences and this particular internship is that it challenges me to be something more. To do more. To dream of everything I thought was once unimaginable.

“In those moments, love appears and says: ‘You think you’re heading toward a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal’s existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little, but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you.’”
–Paulo Coelho