The Penn Farm, part of the Penn Food and Wellness Collaborative (PFWC), is Penn’s first and only on-campus farm. The farm grows thousands of pounds of organic produce each year to support food access initiatives. It hosts various programs, including research, internships, class visits, courses, workshops, volunteer opportunities, events, and sustainability education.

I am sharing "A Dose of Dillard" as an Opinion Columnist at the Daily Pennsylvanian.

I started my foundation in 2022 when a quote by American activist and scholar Pauli Murray inspired me. Murray stated, “What is often called exceptional ability is nothing more than persistent endeavor.” This was Pauli Murray’s response to ridicule from classmates for pursuing additional interests beyond academics in the novel Song In A Weary Throat: Memoir Of An American Pilgrimage as a high school sophomore. I’ve always enjoyed a full schedule of interests and activities beyond the traditional classroom. Throughout my life, carefully curated extracurricular and cocurricular activities and my innate interests in things like family, ancestry, and vegetable gardening have fueled my educational pursuits. As outlets for creativity and self-expression, there’s no denying these pursuits, my persistent endeavors, spark further academic curiosity for me in the classroom. Pauli Murray’s words reminded me to stay true to things that bring me joy no matter what—stay true to my persistent endeavors. Persistent Endeavors Foundation was born to help me help other young people do the same. I decided to formalize the transition of my ideas and intentions into actionable projects (or labs) to have a meaningful impact on the world, hopefully. I secured official nonprofit 501(c)(3) status for Persistent Endeavors Foundation, Inc. from the Internal Revenue Service in early 2023 and immediately started seeking grant opportunities and other support as planned.

I was a camper at the SSF for 7 years and a counselor for 2 years prior to being hired as a paid counselor. I was eager to be an official leader and role model for the younger students. This was a very important job as I know the impact prior counselors had on developing my sound and confidence and excited to have this impact on campers as I know the value of music education.