Amanda Safi

Name: Amanda Safi

College: JLR

Department: Politics

What Award/ Scholarship did you receive? The Gabriel Zimmerman Award

What year do you expect to graduate? I will be graduating in 2024

Where do you call home? My home away from home is Santa Cruz, but I am from San Mateo, CA!

With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? I was drawn to UC Santa Cruz because of its beautiful campus in the forest and proximity to the beach. I felt like I would get the best of both worlds.

What is your field of focus? I am studying Politics at UCSC.

What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz? Once I graduate from UC Santa Cruz, I hope to work on reproductive justice policy.

What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? One memorable moment that stands out for me as a student at UCSC is the 2022 Take Back The Night Series of events in which we invited the inspiring Chanel Miller to speak to UCSC students.

What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz? One piece of advice I would give to incoming students is to try to have a healthy balance between social life and academic life. While your education is important, it’s the memories you have with friends that you’ll remember the most looking back.

How will this scholarship impact your academic life /research? I hope to continue exploring my passion for social justice in my final year at UCSC and this scholarship will be extremely impactful. I’ll be studying abroad in Costa Rica learning about eco-tourism and conservation and I hope to bring back the experiences and lessons and apply them to my activism work here.