I was extremely excited to hear Laura Rodriguez de Simons speak about turning activism into a career. I’ve always felt called to activism. I knew I wanted to help make the world a better place since before I knew that I needed a job someday. Hearing Laura Rodriguez de Simons speak about choosing activism as a career was simultaneously encouraging and discouraging.

I was thrilled to hear the story of a woman who had successfully turned passion into her life’s work. She told us about her work promoting sexual health. She detailed her experiences as an advocate for immigrants. She also told us about her work at the advocacy center.

I already knew that the advocacy center was a great place. This semester I assistant directed Cornell’s production of Vagina Monologues. All proceeds from the production went to the advocacy center. It was amazing to hear about all the great services that the advocacy center provides. They help thousands of members of our community.

It was so wonderful to hear about Laura’s fulfilling experience. It is so rare to hear about people who actually devote their life to social justice.

I was slightly discouraged by Laura’s advice to people who aspire to have a career in social justice. Laura’s advice was to volunteer at a nonprofit for awhile before working for one. This was extremely frustrating to hear.

Imagine it like this. You spend four years getting a degree in accounting. You put yourself into serious debt. You suffer for this degree, but its worth it because this is what you want to do with your life. Then someone suggests to you that you just do everyone’s taxes for free for a year. After all, thats the only way you’ll know if you really like being an accountant.

I don’t think that Laura’s advice was wrong. I understand that nonprofits do not have the means to pay people like businesses do. I recognize that I will probably have to volunteer for a while before I can work at a nonprofit. But that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

Sometimes it feels like you have to be rich in order to help people. You have to have the financial security to volunteer for a few years in order to work at a nonprofit. You have to write grant applications for money to fund your summer internships, rather than feeling secure in your financial situation.

I was excited to hear about someone making a career out of social justice. I am filled with more doubt than ever that I will ever be able to.