Nina
Reis
Guilty pleasure?
I try not to be ever ashamed of anything I truly enjoy, but I guess what most people would refer to as a guilty pleasure is my enjoyment of Turkish historical dramas.
What’s your story?
Partly raised in California and in Southern Germany, I moved to Amsterdam to study Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), and in the very cliché sense, to discover myself. Since a young age, I have been very opinionated and political, so I am always trying to figure out how to best impact the world, and the people around me, positively. Navigating that desire with critical reflection and some self-awareness, especially of my own positionality and privilege, is something I have learned over the years, and especially since I have been in the Netherlands. Besides engaging in a lot of conversations about human rights, intersectionality, and colonialism, I am very much interested in anything creative, especially when it comes to the mixture of activism and art. In Amsterdam, you’ll find me in art galleries, bookshops, clubs, or in a Chinese grocery store most of the time (when I’m not working or studying).
Favorite social / environmental project and why?
Coming to Amsterdam, I realized how many inspiring young people there are around me that all feel a bit overwhelmed with how to positively impact their environment, how to connect with each other, and how to realize their ideas. For me, YOUth ACT is one of my favorite social projects because it serves as a first point of contact for the people around me, as their starting point helping them make a change in different ways, be it entrepreneurship or activism.
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