Oberlin High School student Reyna LaRiccia was among a group of students from across the globe who were selected to participate in the World Food Prize Global Youth Institute in October.
LaRiccia, 18, a senior says the opportunity has since impacted her education.
The event took place from Oct. 18-20 in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, which serves as a platform to discuss world hunger and food security, and how quality and global access to food can be improved.
As part of the three-day event, 160 high school students – selected from 23 states and territories, and six countries – heard speeches by global leaders on hunger relief. They also presented their research and talked with students and teachers.
LaRiccia was one of the students who had the chance to leave her footprint.
Students were chosen based on submitted papers regarding global food security issues in developing countries. At the event, LaRiccia presented her paper that proposed a hypothetical implementation of a new rice crop containing a flood – and drought – resistant gene to help solve the issue of natural disasters destroying rice crops in the Philippines. Riccia wrote the paper her sophomore year as part of an English class assignment.
Prior to this, she attended many Ohio Model United Nations conferences in Columbus due to her interest in world issues. But it wasn’t until she wrote her essay when she began thinking about the impact hunger has on many nations.
‘I had no idea I’d be selected because I thought my knowledge (on agriculture) was so limited,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t expecting it at all.’
This is the fourth year Oberlin High School was represented at the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, and Superintendent John Schroth expressed his pride in LaRiccia’s work.
‘We’re very proud of her and the work that she’s done,’ Schroth said. ‘From a national standpoint, it’s a pretty prestigious honor. And to have a student at this caliber (who is) able to look at real world problems and local issues in a sociological way is just amazing.’
LaRiccia and the other students also toured research and industrial facilities, assisted with packaging meals for an Iowa-based hunger-fighting organization and participated in an Oxfam Hunger banquet.
Although she was nervous in the same room as prominent individuals leading the fight against hunger, LaRiccia found her place and walked away with a great deal of knowledge.
‘I felt kind of out of place at first, but remembered I deserved to be there just as anyone else,’ she said. ‘It was amazing. I felt like I was completely honored to go there.’
The events also helped LaRiccia debunk her misconceptions about hunger. She said she used to think there was insufficient food in the world to feed growing populations, but now believes the accessibility to that food is what needs more attention to spur change.
‘My view on hunger was misconstrued,’ she said. ‘It’s not that we have a shortage of food; it’s a bunch of different aspects that go into it.’
After she graduates from Oberlin in the spring, LaRiccia hopes to study journalism or international relations so she can help others.
‘I can take what I got from my experiences and actually apply it to real life situations,’ she said.
