Eleni Pacheco

Soon after graduation, I will return to Maine to pursue a career in social services. Specifically, I would like to work with a non-profit organization creating an after school program which highlights the concepts of cultural differences rather than racial differences, premised on the idea of acceptance and unity in diversity. I have made this my goal due to the fact that, since I was in elementary school, a chain migration of African refugees (from differing regions) has taken place in the predominantly white state of Maine. The influx of new peoples and customs has caused economic and spatial discontent which has been displaced in the form of race issues. As a result, the crime rate has risen in Maine. My hope is that, through instilling in children the beliefs that differences are born of perspective rather than skin color, I will make a difference in the future of Maine residents, and, by relation, the future of humanity.

I hope to return to school by 2020 to complete a graduates program in ethnobotany. I have plans to join Teach for America, through which I will be stationed in Hawaii and attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Hiking, camping, and tree climbing. Environmental activism - including seeking out and engaging independently produced documentaries. Amateur singing and dancing - personal. Vegan cooking and dining. Planting and patio gardening. Strategic board games, such as chess.