Alumni
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Leah Field
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Leah first became involved serving her community through her service with special needs children. Having grown up with special needs siblings, Leah witnessed firsthand the impact of discrimination that they faced. This served as the motivation for her to fight against that discrimination in her community, and it has continued to serve as the root of her passion for justice and social inclusion.
During her time at Vanderbilt, Leah has continued to pursue her service interests in children and education. During her freshman year, she volunteered as a Next Steps Ambassadore, working one on one with a Next Steps buddy. She began volunteering with Preston Taylor Ministries, teaching and mentoring children in one of PTM’s afterschool programs. The relationships she has formed with these students has been a core part of her Vanderbilt experience and has reaffirmed her belief in the power of education to solve even the most difficult challenges. Leah has also become involved in service with other marginalized communities in Nashville, in particular through her service with the Nashville International Center for Empowerment. Since freshman year, she has volunteered as a co-teacher in one of NICE’s Hi-SET classes, which prepares students for the reading and writing section of their high school equivalency exam. This past year, she had the exciting opportunity to combine her interests in education and creative fiction by designing and implementing a curriculum on poetry and figurative language for the class. Through these experiences, Leah has learned not only about teaching but about the incredible resilience of Nashville’s immigrant community.
Leah completed her summer project in Jodhpur, India with Sambhali Trust, a women’s rights NGO dedicated to serving marginalized women and children. For her project, Leah conducted an assessment of male perspectives on women’s rights, taught English classes to women and girls in Sambhali Trust’s programs, and drafted a statement published by the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Her project taught her about both the obstacles and achievements in the struggle for women’s rights in India and has strengthened her passion for the pursuit of women’s equality everywhere.
Outside of her service, Leah has pursued her passion for human rights and her interest in law and justice. She is the Vice President of Vanderbilt’s chapter of STAND, a student-led organization dedicated to the prevention of mass atrocities, and a member of Vanderbilt Moot Court. In addition, she is a research assistant for the American Political Science Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession.
Leah is incredibly grateful to be a member of the Ingram Scholarship community, and she can’t wait to begin her senior year with this amazing group of people.