Former Notre Dame Academy graduate Charity Watson (2007) spoke to a group of students on Friday and shared how she measures success.

Watson, who suffered from depression and an eating disorder in high school, wanted something different and said she got that by attending the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Leaving Green Bay, her family and friends, Watson said she stepped far out of her comfort zone in college by taking African dance classes, rock climbing, joining a triathlon team and climbing mountains,all of which helped her cope with depression.

“Do one thing every day that scares you,” Watson said.

That statement went very far for Watson, who studied post-conflict transformation abroad in Uganda and Rwanda.

“It’s easy to watch the news halfway around the world and be disconnected to it. It’s never too late to want to create change,” Watson said about her travels to Africa.

Watson, who graduated with a degree in international affairs from the University of Colorado, moved back to Uganda and re-organized a girls education program.

There she helped with management of a clinic for a year and, as a certified yoga instructor, helped design a yoga program for peace.

Living with her parents, living off her savings and biking everywhere, Watson returned back to the U.S. with only $54.60 in her bank account.

“The experiences I had were powerful. You can build up a savings account, but no one can take away the experiences you had,” Watson said.

After her time spent back home, Watson traveled back to Africa to work on shooting a film about  refugees.

Instead of attending grad school like she had intended when she returned, plans changed and she sold her motorcycle to buy a professional camera. with that she taught herself to film, shoot and edit.

Once again, Watson traveled back across the world to Egypt and Pakistan; there she lived with a family, “built bridges with them” and still stays in contact with them today.

Watson recently landed a job in Afghanistan as a communications officer for MedAir, an international humanitarian aid agency .

As a communications officer in Afghanistan, she will work with communities in this region that are marginalized and vulnerable to shocks such as drought, flooding and landslides.

Watson is scheduled to leave for her new job in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Although Watson’s idea of success is very different from most people’s, she said, “I feel content with my life right now.  That to me is success.”