Georgia Lewis

Georgia Antonia Lewis is a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, studying Sociocultural Anthropology and Chinese Language & Civilizations. Georgia’s wide breadth of experiences from indoor to outdoor work, has sparked her inner-flame for immersing herself in unconventional professional environments and spaces that foster personal healing and growth. Growing up in diverse places such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Georgia has developed a profound appreciation for different cultures and a natural affinity for connecting with people from all walks of life. As a people-lover, she thrives in environments where she can forge meaningful relationships and collaborate effectively with others. As an undergraduate, Georgia was admitted to the Lemelson Anthropological Honors Program under the mentorship of distinguished professors and anthropologists Dr. Douglas Hollan and Dr. Jason Throop. It was with the introduction to Lemelson where she began her research career in developing a research proposal and eventually conducting her own ethnography in Hana, Maui, Hawai’i this past summer of 2023. Her research aims to show that individuals who are navigating liminality as emerging adults–or who are at a crossroads–utilize work-trade platforms as stepping stones to transition into their next phase of life. Additionally, her work aims to study work-trade as a valuable lens through which we can better understand how emerging adults involved in work-trade challenge conventional notions of success and work by prioritizing experiential learning and self-discovery over traditional career paths. Georgia would like to thank Dr. Hollan and Dr. Throop for their thoughtful guidance and endless encouragement, it has been such an inspiration and blessing to work as a team.