From Rutgers to India
“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”
-Albert Einstein
I've learned there is no coincidence that isn't God's doing.
I started my first year at Rutgers University - New Brunswick in 2010. Rarely do freshmen go into college already knowing what they want to study, but I was determined to major in Spanish and Japanese. I knew studying languages would make me versatile, but I didn't know what I wanted to do with them. Interpret? Translate? Teach? None of these interested me.
During my first semester, I "coincidentally" sat next to a girl in my meteorology course who would help change my life. She and I became good friends that year, and one day she invited me to a benefit that was hosted by a student youth group she was a member of.
The event was to create awareness about human trafficking and exploitation. At the time, I had no idea what trafficking was, but I was strongly impacted that slavery still exists. Back in 2011, the average age for trafficked child was 12, and my younger siblings were 12 and 13. Imagining my brother and sister being sold for sex and repeatedly raped was frightening. It was that day I decided I wanted to apply my language skills to help sex workers and survivors who were trafficked.
Fast-forward to my last semester at Rutgers, about four months before graduation, to when I had gotten really good at comparing myself to others. I was the only one out of my friends who failed to secure a job or apply to graduate program, and I was feeling pretty low. My passion to work with anti-exploitative initiatives hadn't wavered, but I still hadn't figured out how I wanted do such work. Around this same time I got an email form Rutgers Career Services that the FBI's Collegiate Program would be on campus interviewing students. I never believed I would get very far, but to my surprise I completed their applicant process.
By the time the FBI started offering me job opportunities, I had already moved back to Sicklerville. Transitioning at home was not easy. I was extremely lonely, unsure of my purpose, and lost sight of my goals. I got into a relationship that wasn't good for me, and worked a couple dead-end jobs. It would have been easy to take a job with the FBI. I felt like I had many reasons to leave, but at the same time I knew I had to stay. Every time I seriously considered accepting an offer from the FBI, I "coincidentally" got a bad feeling in my stomach.
Thank God I did. That "coincidental" feeling helped me achieve my black belt, support a friend during a time of loss, accept Christ into my life through baptism, and apply to the University of Pennsylvania.
I was so nervous the day of my interview at UPenn that I cried all morning. In the midst of my anxious breakdown, I managed to sneak in a prayer. As hard as it was to surrender the fate of my future to someone I could not hear, see, or touch, I felt relieved. Two weeks later, I “coincidentally” received my acceptance letter. Mind you, this was after having completed the whole application process within less than a month.
As if being accepted into an Ivy League institution with one of the top Masters of Social Work (MSW) programs in the U.S. wasn’t enough, the day of Open House was even better. When I got there, I remember getting this crazy feeling and whispering to my mom, "I think I belong here." Shortly after, I met this crazy guy named Dr. Toorjo Ghose. TJ is an associate professor at UPenn who has long flowing hair, and uses words I’m sure only poets know. He tells me about a trip in India he takes every summer; there he educates a group of students how to combat the postcolonial grasp with radical feminist theory and sex workers. I was mind blown. What are the “chances” that I would meet maybe the one person at UPenn who could teach me how to make my passion into a reality?
Thank God for "coincidences".
With Bare Love,
Andreana