NYTimes Journalist Nicholas Kristof Inspires
It’s an unusual claim to fame. Swathi Padmanabhan, a public policy major from Columbus, Ohio, has read every one of Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times columns since she was in the 10th grade. No wonder she was so excited to attend the fall lecture and booksigning at Duke of the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who often writes on global health, poverty, and gender issues in the Third World — and to attend a reception for him hosted by the Baldwin Scholars and WISER programs. Padmanabhan, a Baldwin Scholar herself, has dedicated her Duke research experience to getting a less expensive cervical cancer vaccine to Indian women.
Kristof didn’t disappoint. Here’s Padmanabhan’s take:
“In this increasingly global world, Duke students are often hyper-aware of issues plaguing society. We discuss them and offer our own solutions to them, yet bemoan our inability to actually do something. We put our heads down, push through exams and papers like automatons, and trust that someone else will pick up the torch and make a difference. So, when we encounter a man like Nicholas Kristof, a journalist who has transformed his career into a bully pulpit for change, we must ask ourselves whether we truly are incapable of having an impact in this world. We are receiving world-class educations that, because of globalization, have become more forward thinking and practical than ever before. Our public policy and political science courses emphasize policy issues that governments around the world currently grapple with, our English courses consider present day implications of classic literature, our engineering and science disciplines focus on structural innovations and advancements in health care respectively. We, more than anybody in our generation, have the tools necessary to go out and enact change. Until now, however, we have largely confined ourselves to believing in the change that others can bring. Kristof serves as a real life example of how one person can make a difference. His commitment to freeing victims of sex trafficking is inspiring. We, as citizens of the world, should embrace his optimism and his willingness to champion humanitarian issues that are often neglected. Indeed, President Kennedy once asked our parents and grandparents to do something positive for their country. I think it is time for our generation to step forward and do the same for our world.”
