Alumni Magazine - Summer 2008 - (Page 21) Saira Amir Ms. Georgia Tech Goes to Washington by Way of Honduras S with Klein Dytham Architecture, and former student Aponte to establish an Atlanta chapter. Since its first meeting in November, Pecha Kucha Atlanta has drawn a diverse mix of presenters, who have spoken on such topics as Atlanta traffic, the African art collection at Atlanta’s High Museum, designer cupcakes and cocktail design. Podcasts of many of the presentations are available on iTunes. “What is amazing is how everything unfolds spontaneously through the evening,” Aponte says. “As organizers of Atlanta Pecha Kucha, our goal, which is unique to any other Pecha Kucha, is to ensure a diverse, rich mix of presenters. In other words, I can assure you that on any given night, you will never see more than two presenters who are similar in discipline.” A summa cum laude graduate, Aponte served as president of the Industrial Designers Society of America student chapter on campus in 2006 and was named the IDSA National Student Merit Award winner for the Southern district in 2007. The 27-year-old appreciates the opportunities that working with a small design firm like EchoViz affords him. “Its size, energy and involvement provide the opportunity for me to work directly with some of the most innovative players in today’s design fields,” he says. Now on a summer hiatus, Pecha Kucha Atlanta resumes Sept. 14 at Octane and will be held on the second Sunday of each month thereafter. Aponte has yet to present, but come fall, that may change. “Let’s just say it may be too soon to tell, but I do have a few ideas that I am playing with to present.” — LO aira Amir planned to head off to law school after getting out of Tech. Serving as vice president of student government and being named Ms. Georgia Tech during her senior year, the President’s Scholar was primed for a postgraduation life in Washington, D.C. But as commencement approached, she decided to take time off before committing to several more years of school. “I wanted to do something meaningful; I also wanted to live abroad,” she says. “The Peace Corps seemed like the perfect means to satisfy my two desires.” In the summer of 2006, a month after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in public policy, Amir left to serve a two-year stint in Honduras. Amir, 24, has spent most of her assignment focusing on tourism development for a small mountain village about an hour from the country’s capital, Tegucigalpa. “We look at tourism development as a means by which to attract outside investment and revenues,” she says. She is designing a tourist information Web site for the town but says that the majority of her work deals with education and training. “I advise different citizen groups and businesses on topics like effective advertising and providing quality products and services,” says Amir, who also has led seminars on business fundamentals and acted as an English tutor to the town’s middle schoolers. Calling the Peace Corps “an eye-opening experience,” Amir says she is not the same person she was two years ago. “Back then, I was sure that through hard work and determination I would be able to change lives for the better. To say I was idealistic is an understatement. “In this line of work, perseverance is often not enough. People in this country have lived life a certain way for generations and are skeptical of change. Political corruption is the norm, and Hondurans have suffered a long history of injustice and exploitation. It is no wonder that most people are unwilling to risk the little they have in order to try something new.” Amir returns to the United States in August to enroll at Georgetown Law School. She admits that she is looking forward to returning to the luxuries taken for granted in the past, especially washing machines, air conditioning, high-speed Internet and sushi. But it will also take some time to adjust to the American way of life. “I won’t ever be able to buy a Starbucks latte in good conscience again, knowing that $4 is more than most Hondurans make in a day.” — LO >>> Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Summer 2008 21
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