Kim Asenbeck

Kim moved from Germany to the United States when she was seven. Internationalism and global-mindedness define her passions and interests. At her high school, Kim served as the president of her school's Model United Nations team and as Co-Chair of the Leadership Committee for Africa. During her senior year, she researched the capacity of the artificial language Esperanto as a lingua franca in the service of the United Nations, bringing her from Vienna to the UN Headquarters in New York. Kim is particularly passionate about linguistics, and enjoys horseback riding, reading, singing, and painting.

Capstone

Kim Asenbeck

2013-09-12

Watch my final capstone video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UncZ9zN8ww&feature=youtu.be.

The Girl Effect: Part II

Kim Asenbeck

2013-03-16

Here’s the setting: I’m sitting on the bus, speaking in English to a fellow Fellow, who is seated next to me. Across the aisle, a ten-year-old girl has her eyes glued to me. Everything about me must have been intriguing–the language I was speaking that she didn’t understand, my fair skin, and the far away...

The Girl Effect: Part I

Kim Asenbeck

2013-03-12

Who: 600 million adolescent girls around the world What: The potential to bring an end to poverty by educating and empowering girls Where: Worldwide When: Now Why: Watch this video to find out more.

Olive Branch

Kim Asenbeck

2013-01-09

In Germany, next to my blonde-haired, blue-eyed cousins, I look like the child from the Jungle Book. Next to my Brazilian cousins, I look like a pale ghost. I’m too dark. I’m too light. In Germany, they tell me to take myself more seriously. In Brazil, they tell me to laugh a little. I don’t...

Paper Rain: A Reflection of Brazil’s Electoral System

Kim Asenbeck

2012-11-27

Read the initial publication in the Christian Science Monitor’s “Change Agent” blog, by clicking here. __________________ A small boy, maybe six years old, stood in the middle of an intersection. The streets were covered by small, colorful pieces of paper. Unfazed by the passing traffic, the boy gathered up two handfuls and tossed a rainbow...

Abelha Rainha

Kim Asenbeck

2012-09-20

Let’s talk about bees. What I like most of all about bees is that they’re feminists. The quee bee-a abelha rainha– rules the hive. She gives orders to all of her female worker bees, which pollinate flowers, build the hive, guard against any sort of intruder, and create honey. (Fun fact: honey = bee vomit.) Besides honey, bees also...

True Life: I’m a Noveleira

Kim Asenbeck

2012-09-20

“Voce ta virando noveleira, Kim!” (You’re becoming a noveleira, Kim!) The first utterance of these words-said by my host father-was the result of my extreme and nearly obsessive dedication to Lado a Lado, Brazil’s newest novela. Then, the words were uttered again. This time, our team leader, Sol, called a meeting which would start at the same time as Lado...

Unicycling 101

Kim Asenbeck

2012-09-12

I rode a unicycle today. But let me get back to that in a moment… First, a bit of background: Fall Training–a ten-day period of exhausting yet exhilarating seminars, field trips, workshops, and training sessions–serves as the start to every fellow’s Global Citizen Year. The aim of Fall Training is to prepare us for our...

A Story of Contrast

Kim Asenbeck

2012-07-10

This is a story of contrast: small and big, here and there, old and new. My mother, Edna, is one of nine. I am convinced that in naming her children, my grandmother pulled out a book of baby names, flipped to “E”, and skimmed down the column, picking out names. My aunts and uncles, all...