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#345:Stanford Student Wins Trip of a Lifetime with Nick Kristof
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#345:Stanford Student Wins Trip of a Lifetime with Nick Kristof

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Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1QWk0yl. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Austin Meyer, a young journalist who recently graduated with a masters degree from Stanford, got his Warholian fifteen minutes of fame this year. You see, Austin won the New York Times “win-a-trip” with Nicholas Kristof competition. A host of college students apply for the coveted opportunity to travel with the famed columnist to a destination in the developing world to cover, as only Nick does, the painful stories of the developing world. Austin Meyer and Nicholas Kristof in Nepal, courtesy of Austin Meyer Austin Meyer and Nicholas Kristof in Nepal, courtesy of Austin Meyer Austin shared some of his history with me in preparation for this piece and live interview. He confessed that he didn’t always plan to become a journalist. When I arrived at Stanford, I had no clue what I wanted study. My passion hadn’t been revealed. But in the spring of my freshman year I took an introductory creative writing course in fiction and it clicked: storytelling. The story I was writing in that class was all I could think about. So I followed that impulse. That storytelling momentum. I wrote fiction, nonfiction, audio documentaries, plays, screenplays, and performed improvised stories on stage. I rode that passion to a master’s in journalism. He continued, “As my master’s year was coming to an end, I was looking for an opportunity where I could use my storytelling as a way to truly impact the world. I wanted to combine my drives to tell stories and to fight against social injustices. There was no better opportunity than to join my journalism idol, Nicholas Kristof, who has made a living doing just that.” To get a sense of Austin, I asked about challenges he’d overcome. His response didn’t surprise me. “I have been so fortunate in my life. I won the lottery of birth. I was lucky enough to grow up in an extremely loving family with the freedom to pursue my passions. Especially after reporting on issues of social injustice in India and Nepal, there is no challenge I have overcome that is really much of a challenge.” Upon further reflection, however, he added, “Perhaps the obstacle I overcame that so many of us face, was my own comfort. I wanted/want to do this type of journalism because it is a way to make immense global impact. However, doing so requires a turn towards suffering. It requires reckoning with your own privilege and ego. It requires getting your world flipped upside down. I embraced that escape from my comfort zone, because I know that is what will inspire me to make change in this world.” Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1QWk0yl. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

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