University at Buffalo (UB)
[Speaker: Christine Tjahjadi-Lopez] I think finding your purpose really has to do with taking time to understand who you are and where your talents lie. I initially was in Guatemala for my graduate school research and then I was offered a job to work and live in Guatemala and that fell through and so I just happened to start teaching ballet to a few students there. My dance students ranged from students that are very low income, single mom, multiple siblings, to very wealthy Guatemalans. And then I'm giving them the opportunity to learn from each other, to learn about each other, and while they're doing that also to learn about themselves and see how beautiful each of them are. In Guatemala one thing that's very unique are the textiles that they have. They have this very unique skill set of back strap weaving, and of embroidering, and that's what also is helping them to provide for their families. I started their online presence and I'm also working with outreach with clients so that they can have more people to, to work with across the world and also have more exposure. My time at UB really prepared me to go out on my own and to be very confident in myself.