Meet Lauren!
If you combine a love for writing, Lord of the Rings, and adventure you get our Dressember intern Lauren Farris. Lauren grew up north of Seattle, Washington and has resided in the surrounding area her entire life. She attributes her love for the arts, social justice, and nature to her hometown and is deeply grateful for parents who have encouraged her to pursue, explore, and take risks.
Lauren has big aspirations for her future. She just recently graduated with a BA in Sociology and Creative Writing. She will be spending the next nine months attending Bible school through Youth With A Mission, eventually hoping to do volunteer work overseas and attend graduate school for creative writing.
Lauren’s life sounds like what every adventurer’s dream; she’s been stargazing on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, hiked glaciers in Washington State, and in Thailand, she hiked through the jungle, took a Songthaew (a truck adapted to be used as a taxi) through the mountains, and swam under a waterfall. At the moment, Lauren is on her way to New Zealand with her sister where she says, “there may be immense marathoning and quoting of Lord of the Rings.” She also hopes to take a solo trip across Europe where she’ll, “wander museums, write ridiculous poetry, and become endlessly, purposefully lost.”
She attributes her love for the arts, social justice, and nature to her hometown and is deeply grateful for parents who have encouraged her to pursue, explore, and take risks.
Lauren began advocating for victims of human trafficking on a three month trip to Thailand where she spent time working with anti-trafficking organizations already established there. It was there that Lauren decided she couldn't ignore this issue any longer. While she was in school, she volunteered with her university ministry’s social justice team and used that as an opportunity to partner with REST and educate her peers on the realities of human trafficking. Lauren learned about Dressember from a passionate friend who invited her to participate through social media and writing. Lauren says she was inspired by all the fun, creative ways women have been able to advocate against human trafficking with Dressember and she, “loved how a dress could be a conversation piece.”
It’s no surprise that Lauren has chosen to use the Dressember blog as a way to advocate; she has loved writing all her life, and just recently fell in love with “the oddity and normality that is poetry.” She has written portions of a novel that she has plans of finishing and she is starting a blog soon cleverly coined Eight Impossible Things. Her favorite pieces to write for Dressember have been feature pieces in which she gets to interview people. “The way that each person passionately lives life, advocates, and carries certain values really, truly inspires me. Everyone’s stories, life goals, philosophies, anti-trafficking advocacy, etc., are all so unique and valuable.”
“The way that each person passionately lives life, advocates, and carries certain values really, truly inspires me. Everyone’s stories, life goals, philosophies, anti-trafficking advocacy, etc., are all so unique and valuable."
Lauren is full of wonder and whimsy; she encapsulates what it means to live a full life. Her love for people, life, and adventure came through in our interview so clearly and there is no doubt that her work is going to inspire many. One of her favorite quotes is, “Don’t tell people your dreams. Show them.” And that is just what Lauren has been and is doing. Her philosophy? “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Lauren says she isn’t really worried about outcomes, but the fact that she did everything in her power to make the impossible, possible. That’s the kind of advocacy and hope that is going to move mountains.
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About the Author
Sonsee Jenkins is a lover of animals (big and small), hand lettering, and writing. Her experiences include rehabilitating raccoons, writing for her school’s humanity department, and advocating for the oppressed. She attends a small university in Northeast Indiana and hopes to use her degree (and all her time working up to it) to end human trafficking.