My Global Experience
What have been your most transformative global service outreach or engagement opportunities?
I’ve had the opportunity to engage in very unique and transformative experiences. While these areas of interest are broad, I’m currently very interested in social justice, diversity, and cultural learning. Last November, I was able to attend the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) to discuss topics around the discussion of identity and diversity. Over 1,600 students congregated in Anaheim to express their personal experiences and beliefs. I found it to be very transformative and progressive. The environment felt so inclusive and safe as all the students were very interested and engaged in the discussions. I was also able to get to know other fellow classmates that I didn’t know too well. It was great to talk with my fellow peers about the SDLC topics and continue a diversity discussion. SDLC has motivated me to pursue diversity issues and continue to encourage differences.
In my freshman year, I went on the GIP Nicaragua trip to teach students English. This trip was my first experience where I immersed myself in the culture by leaving my American lifestyle for a week and fully engaging myself in the culture and heritage. As this was a GIP trip, it was heavily oriented towards an educational and cultural focus. It was a great experience to teach English to Nicaraguan elementary students. Since English was their second language, my group had to find other forms of communication such as charades and sounds. This experience was very rewarding as I got to learn first-hand Nicaraguan culture as well as better understand the perspective of a student in a developing country.
In my sophomore year, I also traveled on the GIP trip to China. My experience in Beijing, China shifted my thinking and perception of daily life. While we toured the Great Wall of China and other notable landmarks, we also immersed ourselves through a different form of cultural learning — homestays. I previously had experienced a homestay in Japan through a basketball program, so I was already excited to have a homestay in China. It was amazing to live with another Chinese student my age and understand his educational and daily life. I got to understand how my homestay commuted to school, work with his classmates, and see what he did during his free time. I also met with another Poly student, Hannah, who was living in Beijing for a year. It was great to hear her perspective learning at a completely different country and living with a Chinese family for a whole year. I felt my experience was unique as I learned the culture through the lens of a student rather than the lens of a tourist.
Each of these experiences has impacted me in some form or way in my beliefs and thinking. I can contribute to the Global Initiatives Program at Poly by providing my personal experiences and knowledge I’ve gained through these Poly opportunities. I’m also very interested in global issues and would demonstrate engagement if I were to be a part of the Global Initiatives Program. What I hope to gain out of the Global Scholars program is to further develop my interests in social justice, diversity, and cultural learning on a global scale. I’m currently focused on diversity and social justice from a racial perspective in the United States. I’m hoping the Global Scholars program could help further these areas of interest by expanding my understanding to other forms of diversity such as religion and gender. On a global scale, I would love to explore different ethnic cultures and histories through various perspectives. Overall, I hope Global Scholars will educate me on global issues so I can have a better global perspective on international issues and matters.
