Name: Jamie Phillips

Age: 21

Year of study / status in school: junior at the University of Washington, first year in the undergraduate Social Work program

Area of study and academic interests: I am studying Social Work, but am not sure yet what I want to do within the field. I plan on getting my Master’s degree in Social Work, and possibly further degrees as well. I am especially interested in learning about the educational system and educational policies, as I strongly feel that the US education system needs improvement.

Where you are from (brief description): I grew up in a suburb of Seattle, called Mercer Island, which is in the middle of Lake Washington, the body of water which separates Seattle and Bellevue—two of the biggest cities in Washington state. Mercer Island is a fairly small and quiet city of about 25,000 people; it is a closely-knit and supportive community. Seattle is in the northwest section of Washington state, which is located in the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. The Pacific Northwest is a very green place to live, mainly due to the large amounts of rain we receive each year. Despite the rain, it is a beautiful place to live, especially during nice weather. I currently live in Redmond, Washington, which is also near Seattle.

Interests and hobbies: taking care of children, singing, music, going out with friends, hiking, swimming, being in the sun

Future career goals: This is still a work-in-progress, as I do not yet know exactly what I want to do . . . I love children and am pretty sure whatever I do will involve kids. Right now, I think my dream job would be to work with policies around education in this country. I don’t know how yet, maybe doing policy formulation or lobbying in congress.

Describe your family: My immediate family includes my mom Gayne, who is a teacher and a secretary; my dad Jim, an architect; and my sister Genevieve. My parents live on Mercer Island in the house we grew up in and I visit them quite often (it is about a 20 minute drive from my apartment). My sister lives in New Mexico right now, which is the southern USA, right above the Mexican border. She lives with her boyfriend’s family and works in a nearby hospital as a lab assistant.

Share one childhood dream: I’m not sure if this counts as a dream or not, but when I was a child I had a wild imagination and was constantly day-dreaming that I was someone else. First it started with Charlie Brown, then Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Clara from The Nutcracker, and other TV and movie characters. During this period, I wouldn’t answer to the name Jamie, and would tell people my name was Alice, Clara, or whoever.

How do you see yourself as useful in society: As I mentioned before, I would like to improve the US education system. Besides that, I see myself as useful in caring and advocating for children, working towards social justice, and teaching others about societal problems. I don’t know, I hope when I retire I will be able to say that I was useful in some way . . .