“Activism to me is just a way of living, and that’s why I pledge to always keep true to the Ursuline motto, Serviam or “I will serve,” says Ingeborg Henrietta Hyde, a senior at Ursuline Academy and a daughter of two immigrant parents.
At Ursuline, Hyde is involved in many different organizations and clubs, but this year she’ll serve on the school’s Executive Board. She also represents Ursuline as a Teen Ambassador Against Crime, a program sponsored through Crimestoppers. Through this program, Hyde voices her opinion to local leaders and politicians, attends a Youth Peace Conference and learns more about the criminal justice system.
Hyde participated in the program Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a tour program that brings students to where “American was born through the love and labor of our earliest civic heroes.”
“While in the program, I was reminded once again how blessed I am to live in the United States,” says Hyde. “Unlike my parents, I’m raised in a country where I’m free, and with hard work and determination, I can do whatever I set my mind to.”
I realized that I cannot change the whole world but that I can make a difference in someone’s life and that’s enough to create a ripple effect that will one day produce this huge wave of goodness that will somehow create a better world,” she says.
Hyde traveled to Belize with the organization Beyond Borders to help build a house for a family in need. During that trip, Hyde visited her father’s country and was humbled to give back to the country that has given her her father and culture.
Maritza Escobar Hyde, Hyde’s mother, inspired her to become an activist. Ever since she was a little girl, Maritza taught Ingeborg to help the less fortunate, to do things for others, to pay it forward and to develop a social conscience. Hyde’s mother has always been supportive of her projects. One of those projects was the “Happy Feet Campaign,” which collects used socks and distributes them to homeless people so they have something warm on their feet.
Hyde would like to attend George Washington University or Tulane University, where she wants to study Public Health for her undergraduate degree. After that she plans on going to medical school.
