Stories That Are True
I am a data analyst by way of an education in cultural Anthropology. These two subjects merge in my mind to reinforce an essential, paradoxical belief: To find truth, you have to admit you will never know it.
In 2011 I traveled to Cairo, Egypt, for a semester-long study abroad program at the American University in Cairo. I’d planned to work on my cultural Anthropology honors thesis which focused on Egyptian student activist groups. When the Arab Spring kicked off just five days into my trip, I was elated. No amount of research would ever be as good as seeing the very subject of my thesis come to life right outside my dorm. I went downtown to Tahrir Square. I interviewed activists, ran from tear gas, got blisters on my feet, and made it back to my dorm, full of stories.
When my school said I couldn’t stay, I was devastated. I transferred back home and cobbled together a class schedule that just barely allowed me to graduate on time. I was miserable. But when I told my loved ones here at home that I wanted to go back to Cairo, to study and to be with the incredible people I’d met there, they were shocked. They had been inundated with terrifying news footage of tear gas and fire the whole time I was away. No matter what I said, no one seemed to understand why I was so unhappy to have left all that behind.
Looking back now, I understand their concern. I was naïve and very much at risk while in Cairo. Many people died the same day I went to Tahrir Square. But my friends and family were not completely right, either. My experience on the ground allowed me to add nuance to their simplistic, fear-based narrative about what happened. The student activists I met in Cairo crossed cultural and religious divides in a courageous bid for basic freedoms that I, as a US citizen, often took for granted. Regardless of the many other forces at work, their story mattered. It matters still.
These days I keep my research a little closer to home. My data are in spreadsheets now, not protest songs, but what they lack in drama they make up for in relevance. I’ve reported trends on sexual harassment and assault cases for the US Army’s SHARP program. I’ve tracked risks that impact the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency field officers who safeguard US intelligence. Currently I model manpower projections for the US Navy which anticipate personnel requirements, especially in sea-duty activities; having the right people in the right place keeps our service members safe and effective in their roles.
This is the information I work in now. These are the stories I need to tell, as fully as I can. Leaders require actionable information from their analysts and their questions need answers. My job is to provide those answers, but with the understanding that no one answer, slide, or graph can tell the whole story. When I admit I don’t know everything, I can act on what I do know with purpose and integrity. Only then can I tell a story I know to be true.
