My name is Valea Metzger, and I am a junior at the Texas State University in San Marcos. I am majoring in Political Science and minoring in Public Administration. I was born and raised in Germany and transferred to the Texas State University in Fall 2018 from the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf to better myself. My education is very important to me and that’s why I decided to transfer from a free public school to an American school, where I have to pay tuition, but my degree is worth it in the end. Especially as a Political Science major, my goal is to make a change. In order to pursue this goal, I started volunteering for the NGO “Viva con Agua” after I graduated from High School. This NGO is based in Hamburg, Germany and is supporting the improvement of drinking water supply in developing countries in conjunction with the NGO “Welthungerhilfe”. What makes “VcA” different for me is, that they are not “just” building fountains in developing countries to give people there the access to clean water.
Viva con Agua helps and supports people in developing countries building those fountains all by themselves, with supplying them or teaching them how-to. The teachings of Maria Montessori; “Help me to do it myself. Show me how it’s done. Do not do it for me. I can and I want to do it alone.” are supported by this NGO and I believe this is the best way to help others; teach them how they can do it themselves. For this reason, whenever I get asked to do something for someone else, I always try to explain it as best as I can and support them, while they’re learning how to do it themselves. When I study, I do not try to read a text over and over again until I memorize it. I try to study, in order to teach someone else about the subject.
In my opinion, fairness and equality are the highest ethical values. But I believe everyone wants to be treated fair and equal. That’s one of the reasons why I chose to study Political Science and become a politician. If I experience unfairness or inequality in a situation – doesn’t even have to be or affect myself – I will step up. An example would be, that my apartment complex decided to take advantage of us students and charge us with something that would have been against our leasing agreement. As soon as they sent us this email, I reached out to the attorney, other residents and the city, in order to let everyone know that what they’re trying to do is not correct nor legal. The result was that we started a petition, an attorney team was willing to represent us, the residents, in court and we were able to change the opinion of our apartment, and no resident was charged with anything. If something is not right, then we should not let anyone change our mind by telling us otherwise. I believe that being treated the same way is a human right. It does not matter, where you come from, where you are going, how you identify or what ethnicity you have.
Supporting this is my main goal, after graduating. I see it as my duty as a Political Science major and as a human being to make a change for the better. Even if it is only in my community. That’s why I’ll always and forever fight for what is right and that people get treated fair and equal.My goal is to finish school with as little debt as possible. Another thing I strive for is to be independent from my parents, that’s why I don’t want to rely on them for my tuition. The support that Honor Society gives me, is helping me move towards these goals. This scholarship is not only helping me gain my degree, it is also my key to stay in this country as an F-1 exchange student and gives me the ability to afford school here. Especially as a foreign person, receiving a scholarship can be tough, because a lot of them require US-citizenship. That’s why I am beyond thankful for Honor Society, and I am so grateful and honored to have been chosen to receive this Society Involvement Award.
