Out of his comfort zone to help others
Published on June 25, 2018"It taught me to get out of your comfort zone, to push yourself."
"It taught me to get out of your comfort zone, to push yourself."
As a first-year student unsure of his academic path, Rye Barcott ’01 went to anthropology professor Jim Peacock in search of direction. He ended up enrolling in Peacock’s graduate-level seminar on globalization.
“He told me to give the seminar a chance, to take a risk, and it was the best advice,” Barcott said. “It taught me to get out of your comfort zone, to push yourself.”
Peacock led Barcott to Kibera — an impoverished neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya — first as a student and later as a social entrepreneur. He pushed Barcott to do something more, to apply classroom knowledge to help others.
From that experience came Carolina for Kibera, a non-governmental organization that supports community-led development in the neighborhood which continues today.
