Rita Wainess

Rita Wainess ('18) is a transfer student at UC Berkeley, majoring in interdisciplinary studies. She has chosen this major in order to combine psychology, history, peace and conflict, and sociology to research the effects that xenophobia has on international law and relations. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Rita spent the better part of her younger years moving back and forth between impoverished homes in Russia and rich neighborhoods of California. As an immigrant, she has experienced her share of immigrant slurs and documentation hardships, and has seen the much more difficult situations that many others, especially people of color, face as both immigrants and underprivileged members of community. This early exposure to very different economic and international realities is at the core of her interests in the connection of xenophobia and international policies. Rita has been serving her communities for years, having been a theater teacher and director to her peers in high school, a volunteer for the re-election campaign of Congresswoman Sharron Quirk-Silva, an ambassador for the honors program of her community college, and a supplemental instructor for physical anthropology. In community college, she was elected into the student senate, where she served as the Chair of the Judicial Committee and Vice-Chair of Research, Planning, and Resolutions Committee, which allowed her to represent her fellow students through projects such as building the platform for homeless students to be allowed to use the school’s shower facilities. At UC Berkeley, Rita has focused her work on the more global aspects of civil service, learning about the international communities that serve to build peace from conflict, and has taken part in the Global Internship program, interning for the International Relations Office of the National University of Singapore. In the Semester of Spring 2018, Rita will be participating in the UCDC Washington Program, where she will be researching international policies and interning at the Search for Common Ground, an international non-profit NGO whose mission is to find peaceful, sustainable solutions to deal with conflict. She will use this opportunity to solidify her goals of working for the UN on peacebuilding and human rights issues. Read her story.