By: Daniela Maya Pelayo
Catalyst is the biggest event of the year for Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society with chapters in community colleges across every corner of the country. This year, the event was in Baltimore, and four students from Tri-C attended with two advisors. It was a great opportunity to get to know students from other states and learn throughout the various workshops about leadership, scholarships, networking, and many other topics to get the students prepared to achieve their goals. There were also key speakers during the event weekend; they shared their stories and inspired the crowd with their words. One of them was Amanda Nguyen, who is an activist, author, and the first woman of Vietnamese descent who flew to space. The highlights of her story moved everyone in the conference deeply as she spoke of resilience and pausing her dreams to pursue justice for the sexual abuse she suffered while being a student. By postponing her goal and fighting for what was right, she ended up changing the system that could have destroyed the evidence of her case too soon. She helped draft a law that was unanimously passed by Congress. This law is now known as the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, and it changed the way rape kits are processed, giving the victims the time they need for their cases before the evidence is destroyed. By listening to her story and witnessing the vulnerability it takes to share exemplify the theme of this year’s event perfectly, “Chart Your Course”. She showed the courage that it takes to open up and keep going despite the changing tides of the current that will try to stop you. She is a great example of leadership and honoring what you believe in. These values reflect the pillars of Phi Theta Kappa. If you are a student and these values resonate with you, perhaps this is your call to join Phi Theta Kappa and be part of the next Catalyst.
