The Borlaug Blog

I was thirteen when I met the late Charlotte Borlaug, Dr. Norman Borlaug’s youngest sister. As she chronicled her account of growing up in Cresco, Iowa, with her headstrong brother, she shared the family mantra: “If you can’t get it one way, try it at a different angle.” Dr. Borlaug’s perseverance and adaptability embodied this philosophy. This was a man who convinced India and Pakistan, who agree on precious little, to allow his innovative wheat to be grown in both of their countries. He was so dedicated to his cause that not only did he come out of retirement at age 70 to address famine in Africa, he is known to have hitched himself up to a plow in Mexico in the absence of a horse or donkey. To him, obstacles were mere challenges to overcome. The aphorism serves as a reminder to try again when I am unsuccessful and of what Dr. Borlaug’s champions taught me I am capable of.

Four years after meeting Charlotte, I attended the Global Youth Institute (GYI) and found it to be a transformative experience. I was introduced to like-minded high school students who shared my passion and was inaugurated into a community striving to achieve abundant food resources, clean water, proper nutrition, and robust education for all. As Dr. Borlaug eloquently stated in his 1970 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, “I am acutely conscious of the fact that I am but one member of a vast army.” Eight years later, I still draw upon those I met at the GYI, members of Dr. Borlaug’s “army” of hunger fighters, for inspiration and friendship. Through relationships and opportunities, they laid the foundations that will guide the course of my career. I am proud to be part of a global network constantly driving toward our common goal by employing and developing Dr. Borlaug’s precepts. 

The World Food Prize (WFP) , introduced me to a skillset I was unaware I possessed, and ultimately my college major. My first grade teacher once asserted that boys were better at math while girls were best suited to reading. Although I quickly realized the flaw in this statement, it was the WFP that ignited my love of data and statistical analysis. Through interactions with female economists, statisticians, and data scientists, I learned math and STEM disciplines are for me. As a senior in high school, I gained a first-hand understanding of the economics of hunger and public health through my Borlaug-Ruan International Internship in Bangladesh. I conducted economic development research with BRAC, immersing myself in not just the statistics of malnutrition, but the human experience of living in one of the world’s least food secure countries. 

The network I developed through the WFP provided the chance to serve as a Wallace-Carver Fellow with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) engaged in statistical analysis of global commodities markets in 2014, and in 2016 where I collaborated with the Office of the Chief Economist of the United States (OCE) to generate World Trade Organization arbitration exhibits in cases concerning price gouging. These World Food Prize-enabled experiences have helped me grow professionally and personally by aligning my passion with the mentorship needed to advance my skills. 

My career choice was conclusively influenced by the healthcare needs I witnessed while working in Bangladesh, the data metrics I created during my time at NASS, and my international work at OCE. My work  has led me to the Middle East, where I’ve been able to witness the human outcomes of Dr. Borlaug’s work while creating my own impact on human health, striving to improve population health through data standardization and statistical healthcare analysis. 

No matter where I go, I recognize that despite the obstacles I may face--cultural, linguistic, or technological--obstacles are challenges meant to be overcome, as Dr. Borlaug exemplified.   I followed the Borlaug mantra; I changed my angle and it changed my life.