Choreographer of Change
Alicia Sparks
Senior
Major: Anthropology
Minors: International Studies, Dance
Alicia Sparks, a dancer at heart, is preparing to become a choreographer of change.
If you had asked Sparks when she first started at USF who she saw when she looked in the mirror, she would have told you that, after 15 years of study and performance, she saw the reflection of a dancer.
Three years later, the stage on which Sparks moves with such natural grace and charisma has changed. While she says that she will always love dance, introductory classes in previously unexplored disciplines such as anthropology have opened her eyes to new possibilities. Community service and civic engagement have transformed her vision of her future place in the world.
Now when she looks in the mirror, she sees someone with the potential to create positive change in the lives of individuals and communities.
“My classes at USF ignited a spark, an awareness of the issues that affect the quality of people’s lives,” she says. That spark, combined with extensive community service, as well as an Honors project on the homeless, has inspired a desire to contribute to solutions that improve lives.
With that motivation, Sparks applied to American University’s Washington Semester Program. She enrolled in a seminar titled “Communities and Justice,” which explored the concept of community, the factors that make a community healthy and how forces at the local, state and national levels are used to create and strengthen communities. The program also examined the concept of justice and the complexity in problems and solutions surrounding criminal, economic and social justice in the context of community.
“I woke up each day so excited to explore the topics we were learning about,” says Sparks. Discussions with policy makers, legal experts and Washington insiders as well as site visits enhanced the unique learning opportunity.
While in Washington, D.C., Sparks also served as an intern at the Center for American Progress. Working in the domestic policy department and the Poverty to Prosperity Program, she conducted research, attended policy forums and authored summaries gaining practical experience with community issues policies.
Eager for a global perspective, Sparks spent the second half of her junior year studying abroad at the American College of Thessaloniki in Greece. “I have always been intrigued by the prospect of studying abroad — of seeing and understanding life from a different perspective,” she says.
“I’m sure communities everywhere face the same types of issues. I want to learn what I can do to make a difference in my own community, but, at the same time, nourish an awareness and appreciation for the global community, as well.”
-- Mary Beth Erskine, University Communications & Marketing