Yeshe Sherpa
Current Employment: New York City Department of Education
Yeshe’s Purchase experience in her own words:
“As a participant of clashing cultures who was passing through two worlds, I wanted to deepen my understanding on the connectivity of people from different backgrounds. I entered Purchase as a Sociology major and while I enjoyed developing foundational skills on how society influenced people and their behaviors, I wanted to learn more about these individuals holistically; who are they, where did they come from, and what connects us culturally? During my sophomore year I took an introductory Anthropology course with Ragnhild Utheim and I was immediately attracted to the concept of studying people’s everyday life and the nuances of cultures. Everything we experience factors into shaping who we become, our identity, and it forces us to question everything around us not because we want to fight it but for genuine understanding. Anthropology taught me that these lived experiences people endure create a multitude of perspectives where one is never the exact, despite belonging to the same culture. Neither is incorrect but rather, people have the ability to alter their way of living.
While at Purchase I was able to study abroad for a semester in India, work with youth in Nepal, and was one out of two students chosen to represent Purchase at our sister school, Technos College in Tokyo. My mentors David Kim and Lisa Jean Moore (Sociology professor) were instrumental in guiding me to collect stories and ensuring that people’s voices were heard, not just mine. During my senior year I had an even stronger desire to explore cultural spheres, change, and develop my hands-on experience by serving in the Peace Corps as a Youth Development Specialist in Morocco. There I was on the diversity committee and worked with youth, primarily girls and women up to age 29 in building life skills to initiate youth empowerment and teaching English. I quickly learned that being an educator does not merely entail parsing school subjects––it is also about integrating with the students to wield a safe community, building rapport, a friendship, and to provide the patience and support that they need to grow as individuals. My service was unfortunately disrupted due to Covid and I was evacuated back to NYC. Since returning, I became a special educator for high school students and obtained a Master’s in Education. I am constantly surrounded by a diverse group of individuals from marginalized communities who are all somehow connected and share similar stories. The foundations of anthropology have trained me to work interculturally based on communities that I’m in touch with.”