Photo Courtesy of Blake Larson

Alexis Marking, a senior global studies and political science major, is a woman with a plan. Not a plan that dictates her path – which she has embraced as ever-changing – but a desire to be a catalyst for the prosperity of all people. Once committed to studying oncology, it was the wisdom of her high school history teacher urging her to question exactly what she wanted that caused her to shift from one noble career to the path she is on now.

Marking was one of four delegates chosen by Hofstra to attend the Democratic National Convention (DNC) through The Washington Center, a company that provides internships and seminar opportunities to deserving college students. To earn this position, she had to undergo an extensive selection process that started with an application and ended with a group interview. After the final interview, she was told she would hear from them within the next 24 hours. She received an email after a mere three hours.

 “I really wanted to go to the Democratic National Convention because politics is my passion,” Marking said. “I’d be meeting a lot of leaders, and a lot of emerging leaders that are our age that want to be doing this in the future. I just think that it’s so cool to see those kinds of things up close, especially in 2020 when things are so important, and you don’t know what’s going to happen in the White House right now.”

Marking’s life goals aren’t specific titles, but rather initiatives she hopes to one day accomplish through opportunities like these.

“I am going to school to be a lawyer, and I want to do international human rights. My dream job would be to work for the United Nations (UN) and to help people,” she said. “I stopped setting up long term goals for myself in that sense, because I think that when you do that you’re always going to be let down because you don’t know where you’re going.” The one thing she is certain of, however, is that humanitarianism is going to play a huge role in where she ends up.

“I don’t have a specific law school that I need to go to, I just know where I would like to be. And the UN would be incredible, but if I was doing anything else that I was really happy doing, then it wouldn’t be a loss.”

Attending the DNC is one of many opportunities Marking has been awarded during her time at Hofstra, which she describes as being abundant in opportunities for growth.

“I think Hofstra is a good mix of big and small; of a large community and a small community,” she said, expressing her gratitude for the hands-on education the university has provided her. “If you go to a big Ivy League school like Columbia [University] where every single person was the standout student in their class, and you’re so caught up on what your resume says and how you look, [then] you stop being a real person.”

The Hofstra environment and Marking’s unfaltering will to make a difference has led her to embark on her latest task.

“I’m working on an honors thesis through the political science department; [it is] on the under-representation of women in government, because in the United States it is statistically proven through research that the average American is just as likely to vote for a woman as they are for a man in political positions,” she said. “The problem is that women are running at much lower rates because women are statistically less likely to express interest in running for office, to believe they are qualified to run for office and to actually mount a political campaign.”

Marking is the president of Phi Alpha Delta, the pre-law fraternity on campus. She has also completed a three-credit project through the Hofstra honors college that served as much more than a mere assignment in her educational career.

“I went to Bangkok, Thailand for 12 days, to the United Nations Symposium, which was basically a thousand emerging leaders from all around the world, and over a hundred countries were present. There were all kinds of workshops and seminars and speakers. It was an incredible experience,” she said.

“After I went, the honors college wanted me to decide what I could do to change the world. I decided that you [have to] start locally. Everything is grassroots, if you think about it. So I created an initiative in my hometown, which is way upstate in the middle of nowhere, and I’ve been pre-registering and registering people to vote because I think that the first thing and the most important thing that you can do as a citizen in the United States is exercise your right to vote,” Marking said. “It’s a civic duty and it makes a difference, and when people actually do it you’d be amazed by the results.”

Through this project, the advice of her most influential instructor in high school became clear in her eyes. Her ability to create change through her knowledge and ideology made it clear to her how she wished to spend her time.

Marking is an impressive woman, but her recognition is not rooted in her accomplishments. Instead, the motivation behind her work is key – every project she adds her name to serves to benefit others.

“Being imperfect and being human is how you best to help other humans,” Marking said.

She does not strive for perfection, though she admits to sometimes feeling the pressure to reach it. She does not dream of wealth but maintains a work ethic that can lead her to it. She is so committed to the human experience that one would be inspired by her while also seeing themselves in her.

“What I’m learning to let define me is balance, and not letting the scale tip too much,” Marking said. “I think that we’re all very three dimensional, and we all need to remember that.”