Welcome back! I’ve missed you.  I hope you like my new website banner thanks to my sister, Breanna for the photos and my good friend, James Walters for the design.  It’s been a good stint back in the states: applying to medical school, appearing on national television, re-learning the violin, connecting with friends and family, and taking in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest (the bald eagle is my spirit animal and that tree is very near my house).  Now, it’s adventure time.

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I’m ready – I feel as if the last 7 months have been a big buildup to this very moment.  India has been on mind since I returned from Colombia and it constantly got pushed further back due to the demanding process of applying to medical school.  Now that’s behind me.  Game on.  I will either attend the University of Washington (MD Program) or Western University of Health Sciences (DO) program.  I recently interviewed at UW and am awaiting further information.  I am looking forward to knowing where I will continue my journey to becoming a physician.  I am enthusiastic about dedicating my career to working with medically underserved communities both locally and abroad.

I am filled with gratitude for the generous and enthusiastic support of my fundraising efforts.  Between the Indiegogo campaign and individual contributions, my work for Magicians Without Borders in India has been supported by over 60 different donors contributing a grand total of $3,696.  That is a lot of people and a large sum of money.  Thank you for believing.  I feel so blessed.

Our students in Colombia continue to thrive!! We are grateful to Carlos Lopez who keeps our students learning, engaged, and passionate.  Check out this video he made to showcase what our students have been learning!

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Upon my arrival in India, I will begin weekly magic classes with our students from Prerna whom are daughters of sex workers from the brutal brothels of Mumbai.  Prerna focuses on putting an end to second generation sex trafficking and has found that without intervention, 70% of these girls will go into the sex trade themselves.  We partner with Prerna to intervene with magic.  Also, I am already set up to spend Wednesday afternoons performing in the pediatric ward of Sion Hospital in Mumbai.  Additionally, I will visit Parapeligic Foundation, a rehabilitation center on a weekly basis.   All of this has been planned with the help of the founders of Our Children, a non-profit that we collaborate with that works with children in many orphanages and hospitals throughout Mumbai.  In my spare time, I will frequent Patel’s Magic Shop and attend meetings with the Mumbai Chapter of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in order to make connections with Mumbai magicians.

Not only this, but the founders of Our Children have generously offered to host me during my stay – I will be staying with 4 different families over my 3 month visit.  We are grateful for their generosity and warmth.  I am confident that living with these people who have dedicated the second half of their lives to humanitarian work will add meaningful depth and connections to my time in India.  I am grateful to know that I will have somewhere safe, comfortable, and friendly to return to after long days in the chaos of Mumbai.  It’s also comforting to know that someone will be picking me up at the airport!

I was recently featured in an article by The Jesuit Post – click here to read the article (written by my former Biology Lab Professor).

Thank you for choosing to accompany me while I’m in India.  I look forward to sharing the adventure and learning that await.  I am looking forward to newness.  I have never been anywhere like or near India.  I look forward to learning with our magic students, performing in orphanages and hospitals, making new friends, flavorful Indian food, trekking in Nepal with college friends, and to feeling out of place almost everywhere I go.  New sights, new sounds, new smells, new sensations – a sensory splurge into an unfamiliar world.  This is it. Adventure time.