BU Student – Profile

May 6, 2019

I followed a Boston University student around for a day and asked her about her life and plans after graduation.

Amanda Willis’ MacBook and iPad are parallel with the library cubicle’s edge as she crouches over typing and cracking her neck in a way that makes you understand why she faintly smells like Tiger Balm. Just by sitting in the cubicle next to her for more than ten minutes is enough to pick up on her spunky vibe– whether it be from her hair, dyed blue and purple, or how you can tell she has had a burst of inspiration with her feverous typing and mumbled Spanish whispers. From the way she radiates confidence and maturity, it’s hard to believe that she is a only a sophomore in college that has already solidified plans for a career path, not only in public health, but in her mother’s native country of Bolivia.

Acquiring U.S. citizenship is a laborious process, and in recent years has become increasingly difficult for non-American citizens to become naturalized. Willis is doing the exact opposite of that. Taking advantage of opportunities she received by being born in America, Willis plans to acquire Bolivian citizenship to move there to effect change and enact new policies. 

Growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, coming to terms with her identity was a rocky path. Being raised by a Jewish father from rural Mississippi and a Bolivian mother, Willis had a Bat Mitzvah at 13 and went to an Arctic Monkeys concert to celebrate her Quinceañera. Her father came from an extremely poor background, but managed to put himself through college and medical school despite being the first person in his family to go to college. Her mother migrated from Bolivia to America for a better life in her 20s. Both coming from very little, they became the very embodiment of the American dream and created a life of luxury for Willis and her younger brother, Robert.

After a brief phone call in fluent Spanish with her mother, Willis told me that her dog’s name was Ezra, a popular Hebrew name. This was one of the many ways that Willis’ multicultural upbringing manifests itself in her life. 

“Being raised by parents with such distinct backgrounds made my own voice a mystery. But as I look at the young woman I have become and how far I have come, I am inspired to continue flourishing in the midst of diversity,” said Willis.

When Willis was younger, she hated being in school. She hated occupying someone’s spot with her financial opportunities who, she believed, may be more deserving. She had no idea what a college fund was or why she had one. “My life was set up in the lap of luxury, and I wasn’t old enough to comprehend what that meant for my future,” Willis said while playing tug-of-war with her mini Australian Shepherd. Once she realized how lucky she was to be raised with so many opportunities by parents who had struggled so much to create this life for her, Willis decided to use her privilege to do good instead of sitting on the sidelines.

“A million people are trying to get out of Bolivia so they can get the kind of education I am lucky enough to have,” Willis said. “It’s not fair for me to just waste the opportunity I’ve been given, when I know there are ways to help close the opportunity and resource gap in Bolivia.”

Willis, 20, currently interns for the non-profit Chica Project, whose mission is to close the opportunity gap for Latinas and other women of color by providing the tools and experiences necessary for them to access education and reach their potential. Her hands-on work and experience with this program helped Willis realize how empowerment and helping women realize their potential can change lives. “[Chica Project] is a testament to how programs really affect young girl’s lives. I didn’t realize how powerful a woman is once she embraces her roots – this is something [Chica Project] has helped me understand because I have been able to see how the program’s mentors lift the girls past their limits,” said Willis.  

When she was 11, Willis started helping her mother with a summer job teaching migrant workers’ children through a remedial program called Panhandle Area Educational Consortium. “Over the years, I watched Amanda develop very personal relationships with the kids. Her enthusiasm for helping others really showed when I saw how happy and energetic she was when she was around these kids,” said Robert, Willis’ younger brother. After working with these kids for 7 years, the social stratification made itself clear as she began to realize how different their lives were as a result of her parents’ socioeconomic status. 

As she matured, she started to feel guilty about the money and opportunities her parents provided her. She didn’t have to work for anything, yet, she was assured a bright future. “I resented my privilege because I felt like I didn’t do anything to deserve it,” said Willis. 

From her extensive work with PAEC, the guilt she felt evolved into motivation to help these people in need. “The only way I learned to appreciate what I had was when I felt like I had earned it and PAEC helped me do that. Working with the migrant children and having the capacity to inspire a child to exceed his or her personal expectations rid me of my self-condemnation,” said Willis.

Willis took her experiences at these non-profits and decided that it was her mission to help others who did not grow up with the same advantages and access to education as her. Attributing the corruption in Bolivia as a large factor in her decision, Willis wants to be able to use the opportunities her mother gave her by coming to this country to reform policies that involve city planning, public health, and childhood development. 

Before she turned 18, Willis’ father would not sign off on papers that would allow her to acquire dual-citizenship, believing that life in Bolivia would be too dangerous. Now that she is 20, she has begun the process of becoming a Bolivian citizen by sending her documents to the consulate and plans to eventually move to Bolivia so she can form policies to do justice to the country that helped form her identity. 

“I owe my passions, my cultural understandings, and my socialization to this country, and I don’t think my place is in the U.S. The person I am and the reason I have lived life the way I have is due to my Bolivian heritage,” said Willis.

To reside in Bolivia, an individual must either become an impermanent resident or become a naturalized citizen. Willis is doing the latter and acquiring a dual-citizenship between Bolivia and America. This will allow her to have the same rights as a Bolivian native and is the only way she can secure a job in the government and be able to reform policies. Because her mother was born in Bolivia, Willis is eligible for Bolivian citizenship by descent, making the naturalization process easier.

The relative ease of acquiring citizenship in Bolivia, and most other countries, differs greatly with the laborious process of acquiring U.S. citizenship. To become a naturalized American citizen, one must have a Permanent Resident Green Card for at least five years, meet extensive eligibility requirements, and go through a ten-step naturalization process. Even after meeting all these requirements, many candidates are turned away for small technicalities. Willis wants to take advantage of her birthright and assist others who don’t have the same advantages.

After graduating from Boston University with a degree in sociology and public health, she plans to find a job in the Bolivian government and slowly work herself up to positions where she can reform policies. One of her goals is to assist people from lower socioeconomic statuses, who are dying from preventable diseases because they do not have access to proper health care and sanitation.

The physical layout of the cities contributes to a lot of the crime, said Willis. The hospitals and ambulances are mostly driven by who will pay them under the table. “The quality of care and how fast you receive it could depend on how much cash you have on you when the ambulance arrives,” said Willis. The amount of money and influence a person has dictates life and death in Bolivia, and Willis is determined to change this. 

Willis will not be the first person in her family to work in the government. Her grandfather used to be involved in Bolivian politics when crime and illegal activities were high in the 1980s. He kept a gun under Willis’ mother’s crib and snuck the president from the small mining town they lived in to the capital. 

“If you look at the side of my mom’s childhood home, you’ll see where three bullets grazed the paint off the house from when soldiers were sent to find him and the president. My mom grew up around this, and her only goal for me was to be a fighter,” said Willis.

Although her mother Claudia knows that life in Bolivia will not have the same advantages as living in America, she fully supports Willis’ plans to move. “Amanda has always had much bigger dreams than the people around her. I want her to find something that drives passion into the work she does,” said Claudia. 

The social hierarchy in Bolivia, like many other South American countries, creates an extreme opportunity gap for indigenous communities vs. those of European backgrounds. The current president – who has been caught inflating the polls – is enacting policy to “help” the indigenous peoples, but he is creating corruption, silencing journalists, is involved in the drug cartel, and is trying to become a dictator figure through his historically unprecedented 13 years (and counting) in office. 

She believes the government plays a big role in the continuing stratification between the lower and upper class. Through changing education and public health policies, Willis is convinced that people will be less involved in drugs and gang activity, which will help lower the violence and crime rates that are plaguing Bolivia.

“Amanda is one of the most driven people I’ve ever met, and she will really do [whatever it takes] to achieve what she wants,” said Doran Kim, one of Willis’ close friends.

Willis hopes to utilize the knowledge she gained from working with Chica Project and PAEC to close the large gap between the upper and lower class. “I believe in my ability to empower children and other women of color,” she said, “So why not help people on a larger scale?”