Cattleya Sankham
Unified in Empathy
“Empathy has been a characteristic of mine ever since I was a child living in Thailand. I was born in California but moved to Thailand when I was about twelve years old. One of the most vivid and unforgettable memories I have of Thailand is seeing so many amputee orphans abandoned on the streets. Witnessing a different side of the world and living so close to poverty changed who I wanted to become. It instilled in me a desire to alleviate poverty and protect those who can’t protect themselves. Since then, I have been volunteering with different non-profit organizations and have become involved with clubs that teaches me more about the world.”
“When I first started college, I had transferred to a fashion school in New York to study Textile Development and Marketing. I wanted to create a sustainable clothing line that utilized the profits to affect people facing adversities like the shoe company, TOMS. I figured people will always buy clothes and if I can make a meaningful clothing line that people actually like, they can support a business that has a commitment to social responsibility. But in time, I realized that learning about conflicts and resolution tactics is more important to me which is why I am now a Peace and Conflict Studies major here at UC Berkeley.”
“I want to be part of the Empathy Surplus Project because its mission aligns with my own values. I have not seen a fellowship or even an opportunity like this that cares about empathy and wants to incorporate it into society on a massive scale. I believe that this is a great opportunity for me to learn and expand on my passions. Empathy is key for cooperation that I find leads to progress. I feel like a lot of solutions to the world’s problems require a degree of empathy but as humans, we are sometimes too egotistical and would rather relinquish the peace for our own gain.”
“Nevertheless, I believe that the American core values of empathy and responsibilities to self and others are values worth fighting for because it will create a more collaborative future for all Americans. It produces grounds for people to engage in conversation and learn other points of view. It teaches us how to be patient and respect opposing ideals. By participating in challenging conversations, we learn how to compromise for a solution instead of arguing and blaming those who don’t understand us. From this compromise, individuals can establish a trust between one another to focus on the source of conflict. If we can diminish conflict as the new norm on the individual level, we can do that within our government too. My hope is that with a more empathetic government, Americans can stand together united on important issues because we feel like we have a responsibility to our neighbors and not our wallets. As a result, these values can become the foundations for Americas prosperity, unified in empathy.”
Cattleya Sankam is an undergraduate student of UC Berkeley, Class of 2018, working toward a Bachelor of Arts, Peace and Conflict Studies with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice. She is a member of the CAL Rotaract Club. Her two main responsibilities as a 2017 Empathy Surplus Project Fellow are to (1) practice ESP’s Four Empathic Activities of inward digestion, investment, implementation, and invitation, and (2) volunteer four hours per week to Dr. George Lakoff at the Center for Neural Mind and Society. You can support Empathy Surplus Project by emailing info@empathysurplus.com about how to set up your monthly freedom investment.
