Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about success. Where does it come from? How can we define it? And how do the most “successful” people get there? Recent posts written by Grace and Jamie got me thinking even more and inspired me to add my thoughts to the conversation.

The way I see it, there are two ways to perceive success. First, there’s what “society” considers successful. “Society” varies from person to person: society is basically made up of those whose opinions you respect and who you may be influenced or pressured by. This might be the abstract “society” as a whole, experts in a specific field, your colleagues, your family, your friends, or your loved ones. Depending on who you respect and want to impress in life, you might be subject to different pressures and different definitions of success. Each person you’re influenced by might consider success to be correlated with wealth, happiness, educational achievement, bettering the world, or fame. Your mother might want you to be a doctor, your friends may want you to do entrepreneurship, or your significant other might be wishing you’d take a stable job to pay the bills. In any scenario, each person you know has different expectations for you.

And then there is what you yourself consider successful. What’s your own opinion of success? How do you define your own success and what would make you happiest? What are the goals you have set out for yourself, completely separate from what others might think of you? What excites you, and what are you genuinely passionate about?

If you are constantly attempting to achieve success through the first definition - by attempting to conform to the idea of success that your own personal “society” has set out for you - you will never be happy. Because everyone you know - your friends, loved ones, colleagues, professors, and society as a whole - all have differing ideas of what success means. You can’t make them all happy at the same time. Do you really want to live life chasing other peoples’ visions of success?

So here’s my opinion: if you want to be truly successful, you can’t chase the idea of success in the eyes of others. You have to consider first and foremost your own passions and your own desires, dreams, and hopes. And, you can’t chase success, period. If you follow your true passions and forget the “success” you’re trying to achieve, you will actually achieve that success.

Many of the people we consider incredibly successful today didn’t get there with the goal of being rich and famous, or of pleasing their friends and family. They never chased success for the sake of success itself. They have taken unconventional paths, and taken risks simply to do what they love. And they are so good at doing what they love that they are being recognized for it, and rightfully. J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter because she loved writing, and believed in her visions and passions - not with the end goal of being famous. Bill Gates left Harvard to work on Microsoft, not just to get rich fast but because he was genuinely passionate about software and his ideas. Muhammad Yunus’ idea of microfinance has become world renowned as an innovative development strategy and he has won the Nobel Prize - but he never pursued it because of a desire to be successful, but only out of his belief in and passion for the potential of microfinance to alleviate poverty.

So - forget, for a second, what others might think of you. Forget about how society views success, or what your parents or your spouse wants you to achieve. And instead, remember what it is you are most passionate about, what you truly love to do and want to do for the rest of your life. And dedicate yourself to that. Success cannot be a goal, but is often an outcome for those who simply do what they love and do it well.

Recently, I began following @notorture on twitter - a great organization called Survivors of Torture, International. I soon discovered that the Public Affairs Director of the organization, Maren Dougherty, was a graduate of my own university - Northwestern University. Naturally, I was excited to find an alumni through twitter, and I was even more excited to learn about her career path and her work in the human rights field - something I am personally very interested in. I decided to profile her in my blog to raise awareness of the great work she is doing, as well as provide some tips for students interested in human rights. Read on for an interview with Maren, and I hope you can learn something from her!

Maren and Haaz Sleiman, an actor in the movie “The Visitor.” Over the past year, Survivors of Torture, International has been using the film to raise awareness about immigration detention.

Name: Maren Dougherty
Age: 24
Occupation: Public Affairs Director
Place of Residence/Location: San Diego, CA
Employer: Survivors of Torture, International
Employer Website: http://www.notorture.org
Employer Twitter: @notorture
Undergraduate College: Northwestern University
Undergraduate Majors: Journalism
Interests:
Committee Member, Young Professionals for International Cooperation, San Diego
Young Alumni Chair, Northwestern University Club of San Diego

What or who first inspired you to get into human rights work?

My parents always encouraged me to learn about the world and participate in volunteer efforts, but my interest in human rights didn’t fully develop until I studied abroad in Durban, South Africa during my junior year of college. In South Africa, I developed a much better sense of the problems and inequalities that plague the world. I also had some amazing peers and professors – one of whom survived torture during Apartheid.

During my time abroad, I also began to understand the importance of really examining a situation. When some people think of Africa, they just think of disease, violence, and poverty. It’s necessary to know about the problems, but it’s also important to recognize the beauty, the distinct countries and cultures, and the strength of the families and communities there. It’s the same with our clients – some people think of torture survivors and they just think of someone who has been hurt and victimized. In all of our communications, we try to emphasize the resilience and strength of our clients as well.

Tell me a little bit about what your organization does.

Our organization provides services for survivors of politically motivated torture from around the world who now live in San Diego County. We have helped people from more than 60 different countries– many from East Africa and the Middle East — who have fled torture in search of safety in the United States. The program includes health, mental health and social services to help survivors to become healthy, productive members of their families and our community. Some of our clients have been through the worst experiences imaginable. It’s really amazing when you see them adjust to life in America, go back to school or work, and see their family members again. All of our services are free.

What experience has prepared you for your current job?

I think my undergraduate classes prepared me well for this position. The tight journalistic writing style works well for marketing and fundraising materials, and my classes in history and sociology have also been helpful. I also completed internships at New York magazine, Chicago magazine, National Geographic Adventure, and Teen People, where I learned from many different editors and managers. I’ve also tried to pick up new skills whenever possible by taking free community classes in web design and grant writing.

What are your regular responsibilities and duties at your job? Describe a typical workday.

My job includes a mix of communications, advocacy, and fundraising. For example:

8/8:30am – Read and respond to emails and voicemails, update web site and web 2.0 sites, check a few news sites, make coffee.
9am – Compile statistics about our clients for our 2008 annual report. Go on creativecommons.org to find photos that represent our work, and email photographers to get their permission to use the photos in our report.
11am – Review a report about medical and dental services that was written by one of my coworkers. Make changes and send to our executive director for final review.
12pm – Leave the office to attend a lunch meeting with the San Diego Association of Nonprofits. Guest speaker is a member of San Diego County’s board of supervisors. Most of the discussion is about the economy, possible budget cuts, and opportunities for nonprofit collaboration.
2pm – Return to the office. Participate in a conference call about a new web site we’re putting together with other torture treatment centers to help providers (health, mental health, legal, etc.) find the training resources they need.
3pm - Begin working on our next e-newsletter and advocacy alert. Run downstairs to the vending machine for a diet coke.
4pm – Meeting with 3 fellow staff members to develop a plan for completing the next grant application that’s due.

What do you think is the most important human rights issue facing us today?

The one that’s the hardest for me to stomach is the rape of women in Congo. The web sites enoughproject.org and theirc.org have some great information, but it’s just so horrifying how much suffering it’s causing.

In the United States, I’m concerned about the conditions of immigration detention facilities. We mention this in a lot of our newsletters and other publications because it is such an important issue. Increasingly as people seek asylum in our country they are being detained while their cases are evaluated. Sometimes they’re held for years - in cells, far from their families, unable to work or learn. At SURVIVORS, the majority of our new clients are asylum seekers who were or continue to be detained. The isolation and uncertainty of detention deepens their trauma, and makes recovery much more difficult. The New York Times has done some excellent reporting on this topic.

What can people do to get involved in human rights work on a regular basis?

There are many different ways to help, but it’s important to take on projects that are compatible with your time and resources. If you have spare time and live near a torture treatment program (see a list here) or an organization like Human Rights First, see if there are any volunteer opportunities. I’d also encourage people to get involved with their local Amnesty International groups. We partner with Amnesty groups fairly often for events and advocacy projects.

Also, pay attention to advocacy alerts that encourage you to write your legislators or contact other leaders. I’ve met with leaders in Washington D.C. and Sacramento, and I know from those meetings that constituents’ communications with legislative offices do make a difference. I’ve found that most of our local and national leaders do want to support human rights efforts, but they also want to know that their constituents care. Signing a letter takes 30 seconds, so it’s something that everyone can do.

Lastly, donate. I know that’s not the best option for everyone but you could also put together a fundraising event for a nonprofit, such as a concert or a trivia night. If you can’t give $1,000, use your time and energy to plan something fun that will encourage 100 people to give $10 each! We really do value every donation.

What advice would you give a student interested in human rights?

Read, learn, volunteer, intern, travel, meet people, go to special lectures, get involved! Most of all, don’t lose your passion. You might have one bad experience - maybe stumbling upon a nonprofit that doesn’t use its money wisely or a supervisor who isn’t the nicest person in the world- but there are a lot of people out there doing so much good.

Recently I’ve been thinking about what it means to be authentic to yourself. It means understanding who you are and sticking to that, and making decisions based on your personal hopes, dreams, passions, and preferences. It means not settling for a job you don’t love, even in this economy. It means staying true to yourself.

But then I started to wonder — is personal branding truly authentic? Personal branding is all the rage nowadays, and it’s the way we market ourselves to others, especially through social media and Web 2.0. Personal branding is an amazing way to reach out to likeminded professionals, increase your network, and really demonstrate your knowledge of and passion for your field. I feel like I have been building up a personal brand through this blog, and I’m becoming more and more defined as someone passionate about law and human rights. Which was, of course, one of the purposes of this blog: to help me define myself, and to learn more about this field.

However, more and more I find myself wanting to write about other topics as well. Like this post about personal branding, which has nothing to do with human rights. Or about writing, or my career, or even any of my other interests ranging from microfinance to travel to social media to religion. I realize that I am multi-dimensional, and I have so many more interests and passions than can be captured by a simple personal brand.

There are so many amazing niche blogs out there, about topics like politics, marketing, entrepreneurship, career advice, social media, and so on. These bloggers are building up their personal brands by focusing on those topics, and they are becoming known by their expertise in their field. Yet, I am sure these bloggers have so many more interests that can’t be reflected accurately in their blog, and in their brand. Then, is this type of personal branding authentic? By employing personal branding so much, perhaps we are losing bits of ourselves in the process.

Is it authentic for me to be known as solely a “human rights and law” student and blogger, when I have so many other passions as well? It seems to me that personal branding, then, is somewhat deceptive. You’re seeing what the blogger wants to portray themselves as, rather than who they really are. Personal branding, then, isn’t necessarily authentic. It’s instead a tool that people can use to portray themselves to others. But if you want to really get to know someone, personal branding just doesn’t do the trick of accurately capturing who they are - a truly multi-dimensional person with so many diverse interests, passions, and hopes.

Here is a guest post I recently wrote for my friend Grace’s blog. Grace is featuring guest posts by fellow Gen Yers on the topic “What Inspires You?” in order to find out what makes Gen Y tick. I’m honored that she asked me to write a blog for her theme, and I am posting my response here. You can read the original post here. In the meantime, go check out Grace’s great blog, and the other inspiring blogs in her series.

Name: Akhila Kolisetty

Bio: Akhila is a 19 year old (soon to be 20!) undergraduate student at Northwestern University. She’s majoring in political science and economics, and hopes to eventually go to law school. She’s currently studying abroad for the year at the London School of Economics and absolutely loves London. She loves poetry, writing, chocolate, social media, political science and law, deep discussions, and learning about the world.

Blog: Justice for all Twitter: @freestallion

I started writing poetry at the age of 12 or so, after reading the autobiography of Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, given to me by my grandfather. My grandfather is incredibly intelligent. He has never left India, yet he has immense knowledge about the entire world. At a young age, I spent hours listening to his fascinating stories about history, science, religion, art, poetry, writing, and visionary leaders. My grandfather was my earliest inspiration. His guidance led me to discover writing and poetry. Since then, I’ve been in love with words. I love the power I have when I’m weaving words into poetry, when I see my haphazard thoughts come together cohesively to form something tangible, beautiful. I love the strength, emotional intensity, and symbolic depth that poems can convey.

To me, poetry is the ultimate expression of oneself. It allows one to put down on paper the abstract aches and longings buried inside – that simply can’t be conveyed through prose. I’ve been writing poetry ever since, and have even been published in a couple of literary magazines.

Since then, my love for writing has led me to be a reporter for The Daily Northwestern, my university’s newspaper. I loved journalism, but after a while it felt so cold and objective to me. I couldn’t inject my personality, my opinions, or my passions into my articles. And so I stopped after a year, realizing I could never commit to journalism. I’ve also always had blogs, but until a few months ago, they were mostly private and served as online diaries. For the first time, I recently began writing about issues I am passionate about – like human rights – on my public blog, Justice for All. I find blogging more fulfilling than journalism. It allows me to write about topics I care about engagingly and passionately. And at the same time, it’s allowed me to jump headfirst into social media, meeting like minded people and learning so much more about important issues.

Still, I feel like writing doesn’t allow me to make enough of a difference. Rather than simply informing people about the challenges we face, I want to do more. I want to actively do something to change our world. I am inspired by leaders, activists, and organizations that are passionate, talented, and truly innovative. I admire Muhammad Yunus for turning traditional finance on its head and creating a world movement for microfinance, allowing poor people access to loans for the first time. I admire Karen Tse, a lawyer who has started a nonprofit called International Bridges to Justice, which works to end torture in the developing world by training public defenders. I admire NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof for bringing to our attention the things that we have to care about: war, famine, genocide, poverty. I’m inspired by organizations like the ACLU, Human Rights First, Equality Now, and Legal Aid who work tirelessly to protect human rights and civil liberties. I believe strongly that law is an effective tool for social change, because it can really empower people. And I want to be a part of this. It is a way to combine my love for writing – since law involves so much writing – with my desire to better the world. And so, I will continue to be inspired by writers but also human rights activists. Someday, I hope to pursue both passions together – and I hope my inspirations will help me forge my path ahead.

Photo Credit(s): moleskinart and With Love & Such

Right now, I’m just floating on a cloud of excitement, hope, and anticipation. I’ve been offered a summer internship in Geneva in one of my favorite organizations, a young and innovative non-profit working to combat torture and human rights violations in the developing world. What is so exciting about this organization is that they really combine human rights and law with innovation — my two favorite “fields” and topics in one!

I just read over my job description again, and it sounds incredibly enticing. This summer I’ll get to combine my interest in social media and social entrepreneurship with my interest in human rights. Two things I have always loved are: writing, and the Internet. And today’s amazing technology makes it possible to pursue these passions professionally. During my internship, I will build connections with various blogs and websites related to criminal justice and human rights, leverage social media for marketing and advertising purposes, tell the stories of those working to improve legal rights in developing world, and work on the branding of the organization’s website and newsletter.

I’ll get to learn from and meet people I really admire, and be surrounded by a diverse team of lawyers, students, business professionals and entrepreneurs. I’ll gain important insights into the worlds of innovation, social media, human rights, and criminal justice law — all things I am incredibly excited about. But most of all, this is my ideal job - it allows me to use my skills and pursue my various passions, all at once. I am shocked that my “ideal” position actually exists, floating out there somewhere in the internship-verse.

But this never would have happened had I not been willing to put myself out there and think outside the box. Before I even decided to apply for an internship at this organization, I had fallen in love with the amazing work they do and wanted to join in somehow. I decided to go ahead and attempt to start a student club advocating for them, so that I could somehow contribute to their great efforts. I wrote up a quick proposal of my idea of a “student arm” and sent it in.

A few days later, I was shocked (and delighted) to actually hear a response. They were actually keen on helping me start a student club for them, but they also encouraged me to apply for their internships. I applied, and got an interview. My interviewer definitely remembered my proposal, which showed my genuine interest - and I got the internship! The fact that I had shown initiative and true passion made a huge difference, especially to a nonprofit aiming to do something innovative.

So when you’re looking for a job or internship - take a risk. Don’t just be the typical candidate. Be different. Go for something you love, and the rest will really follow. It seems cliche, but it worked for me - and I think that’s what it boils down to: passion and creativity. So take that risk and go for it, and soon enough it will pay off.

Next up: tips for students on how to get an internship at a nonprofit!

Image credit: shesjack