A Modern Day Hero

By: Carly Dietz

It all started with a book. In eighth grade, I read the book The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun for English class. While Adam Braun was traveling abroad as a college student he met a young boy begging on the streets of India, who when asked what he wanted most in the world, simply answered, “a pencil.” Braun was so inspired that he created an organization called Pencils of Promise (PoP). PoP is a nonprofit organization that helps build schools and increases educational opportunities in the developing world. Since 2008 Pop has built 621 schools, supported 2534 teachers, and impacted 113,548 students in Ghana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Laos. PoP relies on fundraising to build and support schools.

I was amazed when I heard three high school activists raised $25,000 to build a school and thought if they reached their goal why couldn't I. I was inspired by both their story and Braun’s, so I decided to raise money so PoP could build another school. I knew this would be a big commitment because the school costs $50,000.

I became determined and in eighth grade, I raised awareness about PoP and began my fundraising campaign by selling bracelets that I created. The summer after eighth grade I got a job at a restaurant called Bango Bowls. That summer I raised about $5,000 and continued to work there during 9th, 10th, and 11th grade both during the school year and summers. At the beginning of 11th grade, I told my grandma about my project. She told me about an organization called The Dammann Fund that donates money to programs involved in teen parenting, independent living for the mentally ill, and educational opportunities for impoverished communities. I wrote to the organization explaining my cause, and they wrote back saying they would be glad for me to send in an application applying for a grant and for us to talk over Zoom. They were so astonished by my campaigning efforts that when I asked for $5,000 over a Zoom call they agreed to double the amount and donate $10,000 to my fundraiser. I then decided to tell my boss at Bango Bowls about my campaigning efforts, and he was so amazed that he launched a new company-wide initiative that allows customers to round up their change when checking out to help me reach my goal. For example, if the item costs seventy-five cents and the customer agrees to round up, the customer pays one dollar and twenty-five cents is donated to PoP. My boss also agreed to donate $1,000 to my fundraiser. After receiving immense help from both the Dammann Fund and my boss I decided to start a club at my school to raise awareness and money for Pencils of Promise. Even though there used to be a club at my school, it stopped meeting and stopped being actively involved with the larger organization. Learning this information further encouraged me to run the club because I wanted others to know the importance of Pencils of Promise and why it should be a long-lasting club. I also wanted to influence other students so they could raise similar awareness and amounts of money for PoP as I did. I was recently featured as Hero of the Day on Good Day New York for my campaigning efforts.

Recently an elderly man named Stephen Anderson, another fundraiser for PoP, reached out to me to pool our money together so we could combine our donations to build a school. Instead of each raising $50,000 we decided to combine each of our $25,000 so a school could be built faster. Even though I was striving to raise enough money on my own, I realized that my goal of building a school could only happen now with the collaboration of another fundraiser. On February 19th, 2021, I donated $25,000 to PoP and with the additional money from Stephen, a school will be built in Laos. I will continue my fundraising efforts to build a second school, and I am hoping to raise another $25,000 by the end of my senior year.

Adam Braun is my hero because he has inspired both me and thousands of other students to fight for the education they deserve. At such a young age Braun learned that a lack of proper education can lead to health and sanitation issues, gender inequality, shortage of qualified teachers, familial economic instability, and infrastructure hardships. Quality education can not only lead to better futures but it can end the cycle of poverty. In Adam’s book, he had a mantra or inspirational statement that he included for each chapter. My favorite, “Tourists See, Travelers Seek,” is about how foreigners go to a country and visit the attractions while open-minded travelers immerse themselves in the culture of that country. Braun was a traveler because during his time abroad he wanted to experience what the natives experienced and gained knowledge by not having a myopic mindset. I aspire to be like Braun because he achieved self-transcendence by willing to escape technology, leading him to gain a new sense of consciousness and perspective of the beauties of people and nature. Braun has not only taught me about the power of education, but also the significance of perseverance and how it can turn dreams that appear impossible into reality.