Public Interest Law

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Public Interest Law

I first witnessed the power of the individual to engender change as a high school graduate in the summer of 1990. I was one of 10 American youths, chosen from a nationwide pool of applicants, to join 10 Soviet youths on a river rafting expedition in Siberia with Project RAFT (Russians and Americans for Teamwork). For three weeks we worked side by side, literally dependent on cooperation and mutual trust for survival. In the evenings, while sitting in a circle around glowing cedar campfires, we held structured discussions on subjects ranging from nuclear disarmament to global warming and racism. At first we struggled to communicate across language barriers, but we quickly found common ground and successfully created a microcosm of a society in which mutual respect, affection, and commitment to our ideals drove our actions. This experience was nothing short of an epiphany for me: working one-on-one with The Enemy forced me to look past stereotypes and prejudices and work with them as individuals. I realized that this approach is the most powerful tool ...

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