On Friday April 5th, from 3:00-5:00pm in Smith-Steeb Room 101, I participated in “Go Buckeye Day” along with other students (both current and prospective) in the International Affairs Scholars Program. This day is one of the largest visit days for future Buckeyes and their families, and at the IA event in particular, I had the amazing opportunity of talking with potential IA scholars and their families about what the program has to offer, the various ways to get involved around campus, and life as a student at Ohio State in general.

One of the many things that I appreciated about Go Buckeye Day was that there was a wide range of IA scholars at this event, both prospective and current, who were involved in a number of different things around campus and therefore able to share their own unique accounts of what being a student at OSU can offer. There were students there involved in residence life, CRIS (Community Refugee and Immigration Services), Tedx, OUAB (Ohio Union Activities Board), and many other organizations outside of IA. For me personally, I talked a lot about Undergraduate Student Government and the many ways you can get involved in student governance at Ohio State, and also about being an Office Assistant at the front desk of my residence hall, which I plugged in as a great job opportunity for students who plan to live on campus. Going back to the overall diversity of the panel and resultant experiences, there were first along with second year students at this event, which allowed for fresh accounts of life as an IA scholar and some more refined ones as well, respectively. There were also students who majored in things outside of political science, international relations, and other areas of study typically associated with IA, which showed our prospective students and their families that being a scholar at Ohio State is more than just complementing your area of study; you can pursue things in life that may have nothing to do with what you want to do in the future, but at the same time, these extracurricular experiences can prove to draw more parallels to your other interests than you might initially think.

As I’m closing in on my fourth semester at Ohio State and my “final” official semester as an IA scholar, I realize that participating in this event allowed for me to do some much needed reflection on these past two years. Looking back, I’ve made some of my best friends and have had some of my best experiences as a result of participating in the International Affairs Scholars Program. I really enjoyed our sense of community, along with the academic and career opportunities that were offered by the program. My first two years at Ohio State as a whole were some of the most transformative years of my life thus far, and I can’t wait to see what the next few years have in store for me and all of my friends at this university. Go Bucks!

On Monday March 4th of the 2019 spring semester, a couple of my friends and I attended the Current Events Convo held in the glass classroom on the first floor of Smith-Steeb Hall. The event was hosted by Sam Stelnicki, who is the the Academic Events chair for our scholars program. During this event, as the name would suggest, we discussed current events from all over the globe, all of which pertain to the topic of international affairs. To begin, we started our conversation on the current tensions between Pakistan and India, an international squabble that might soon turn into full scale military conflict. We learned that the differences between the two countries date all the way back to 1947, but a new wave of violence arose in 2006 after the murder of an Indian military ruler. In 2014, a new Indian rule was introduced that promised to implement a hard line on the actions that Pakistan could get away with; increased tensions between the two countries come as a result of this rule, as India increased air strikes on Pakistani military bases, and Pakistan shot down two Indian air force jets in retaliation .

The next event we discussed was the Nigerian presidential election, which brought about some of the lowest voter turnout in the country’s history (only 1/3 of the entire population participated). This is seen as a result of the election being delayed a week due to logistical issues, making it harder for Nigerians who were traveling to get to the polls on time. Voter intimidation/suppression by the terrorist organization Boko Haram might have also played a profound role in why the northern region of the country, in particular ,experienced very low voter turnout. In regard to the actual election, Muhamma du Bahari won reelection, but with only 56% of the vote. Anticipated issues that his administration will face are the aforementioned threat of Boko Haram and overall poverty in the Nigerian state.

The last three international events we discussed in Sam’s session were Trump’s diplomatic relationship with North Korea, the current state of Brexit (Great Britain’s exit of the European Union) and the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. In short, in regard to Trump and North Korea, the United States is asking that North Korea completely denuclearizes their country. North Korea, on the other hand, refuses to do so unless economic sanctions on the country are immediately lifted. This has resulted in a prolonged stalemate as neither side refuses to budge. I found our discussion on Brexit to be very interesting; in summary, the labour party is in favor of supporting another Brexit referendum with the EU, but if no deal is reached by March 29th, Great Britain will simply exit the European Union without making any economic deals with the member nations. And finally, during our discussion about Venezula, we learned that the two political leaders of the country (Guaido and Maduro) are still fighting over power, which has led the country to become extremely polarized.

As a political science major, all of the topics discussed heavily relate to my coursework in international relations. I became a more globally aware citizen and student as a result of this event, and I will definitely being doing more research on all the topics we discussed. Thank you Sam for hosting such an interesting and thought-provoking session on international news!

(Academic Event)

On Thursday, January 21st, a couple of my friends and I decided to attend German Night at the on campus German House in order to fulfill our social requirement for this semester. This event was hosted by my good friend Kate Greer, who is a third year German/History student and current member of our scholars’ program leadership council. I had the fantastic opportunity of visiting the German House for the first time earlier this semester when Kate invited a couple of her friends (including myself) to hang out and eat some pasta. I enjoyed my experience so much that I was beyond excited to come back and learn more about the German culture, history, and language.

This event relates to the topic of international affairs for a multitude of reasons. Beyond the country’s culture, we learned about German diplomacy and economic relations both on a regional and global scale. Germany is by far the most powerful economic entity in the the European Union and one of the key superpowers on the world stage. Their booming economy  and progressive social policies have allowed them to invest in a multitude of things ranging from renewable energy to free education for all. Germany is also the second most popular migration center in the world, right behind the United States. Going into more domestic politics, we learned that Germany has suppressed any and all use of Nazi symbols and propaganda in an effort to ensure that the sins of the past are never again repeated. Despite this, you can’t visit Germany without being prompted to learn more about the nation’s role as an aggressor in World War 2, the Holocaust, and other formative events in the nation’s history. German identity, nationalism, cuisine and other defining topics were also discussed at this event. Speaking of cuisine, Kate and her roommates made some great pretzels and hot chocolate for all of those in attendance, which was one of the key takeaways of my time there.

Although I am not learning about Germany in particular in any of my current coursework, the idea of researching outside countries and cultures is major topic in my current field of study. In my Canadian political systems class that I am taking this semester, we are using both empirical and theoretical methods to compare the political systems of  the United States and Canada. In my comparative studies second year writing class, we are studying the perception of American identity through the lens of outside cultures (i.e. Native Americans, Black/African Americans, Latinx people etc.). This comparative/holistic approach of studying a foreign political power is extremely important if the end goal is to understand more about that particular country.

In short, I really enjoyed German Night. We ate great food, learned more about an interesting country, and supported our fellow IAer Kate Greer all in the same night. On top of this, I learned about some great outside fellowships and German study abroad opportunities offered through Ohio State that I may take advantage of in the near future.

On Saturday, November 17th, I attended African Night at the Ohio Union. It was a multicultural social event celebrating all of the different countries on the African continent and their respective cultures, foods, traditions, dances, religions, etc. I was able to not only embrace my own culture alongside fellow Ghanaian students at this event, but also embrace and subsequently learn about the cultures of other students on Ohio State’s campus as well, which is why I believe this event relates to the topic of international affairs. In an academic sense, as I mentioned earlier, I felt like I was able to learn more about the cultures outside of my own. There were Eritrean dance performances, a fashion show showcasing all the different cultural wears from the continent, and other fun activities. My personal favorite was a spoken word performance about police brutality and the current black experience in America. It was not only beautifully performed, but also gave insight into an important issue dominating both the news and our country’s politics. I was also encouraged to go outside of my comfort zone, which was a direct consequence of the vastly different cultures being represented that night, and I believe I grew as an individual because of it.

There were a few things at this event that I believe really matched some of my current, past, and future coursework in political science and beyond. At some point in the night, there was a discussion held on stage about Africa’s current political climate and overall corruption. As an international affairs specialization in my major, it is necessary to be able to speak on the politics of other nations, and discuss how they compare to our own. This performance gave me good insight into issues that are affecting people an ocean away, which will serve well in my chosen career path as an internationally minded individual. Next semester I will be taking a second year writing course in the comparative studies department focusing on American culture as seen from outside perspectives. African Night at the Ohio Union allowed me to share my experience as an African American living with native-born African parents in the United States, and laugh at some of the complexities that come with it as a result of the differences in culture. I’m looking forward to taking this comparative studies course next semester because I believe it will give me good insight into a topic I’m both interested in and slightly more familiar with as a result of African Night.

I attended African Night with my friend Sara last year and had such a great time, that we both decided to go again this year. We did the flag walk with our respective countries (Ghana and Sudan), danced to the different music, made new friends, and overall had a fantastic time. I’m looking forward to attending African Night again next year, and hopefully getting even more pictures to post on Instagram afterwards.

I’m using this event in order to fulfill my Non-IA requirement.

On Thursday, October 25th, I attended the IA Mini-Invovlement Fair that took place from 5:30-7:00 PM outside of Smith-Steeb. At this event, several upperclassman IA scholar representatives showcased some the various clubs and activities they partake in outside of our scholars program. Along with giving information on the purpose and meaning behind these extra-curricular activities, our fellow IA scholars also presented us with various ways to get involved in both their student organizations, and similar ones all over campus. In particular, I believe that the Collegiate Council of World Affairs (CCWA) and the Alexander Hamilton Society were two of the best student organizations at the Involvement Fair for students interested in international affairs and politics.

The Collegiate Council of World Affairs focuses on discussing and addressing problems related to international relations and diplomacy. They participate in a number of events throughout the academic year, one of which includes the High School Model United Nations Conference. This conference is called OSUMUN (Ohio State University Model United Nations) and takes place annually. Because of my involvement in OMUN (Ohio Model United Nations) back in high school, this student organization caught my attention immediately at the involvement fair. This semester, my schedule conflicts with their weekly meetings and other events throughout the year, so I plan on joining the organization either next semester or next school year in order to supplement my own interest in international affairs and world politics. Because I plan on working for an international organization or government agency in the future, and since a majority of my coursework as an undergraduate relates to the global policy, I hope to gain a lot of academic and professional experience by joining this organization.

Another organization I met with at the Involvement Fair was the Alexander Hamilton Society. This student organization’s mission is to promote and foster meaningful discussion on a number of topics including economics, national security, and global politics. During my first semester at Ohio State last year, I attended one of their large speaking events in which they discussed the nuclear North Korean state, and how their increasing aggression against other nations could bring about problems of national security for United States and our various East-Asian allies. At the time, I was in an American foreign policy class, so I was able to relate a lot of topics discussed at the meeting with topics we discussed in class, which was very interesting. This is another organization that could help me gain some very useful academic and professional experience, so I hope to be able to join it next semester or next year at the latest.

All in all, I believe that the IA Involvement Fair was a success, and presented a lot of opportunities for internationally-minded students to get some hands-on experience with work and topics that they might be dealing with in the future. Not to mention that was able to I hang out with my IA mentees and other friends while going from booth to booth!

I am using this event to fulfill my Academic Requirement.

On Tuesday, September 25th, a couple of my IA friends and I attended the CRIS (Community Refugee and Immigration Services) Tree of Hope Project on the first floor of Smith-Steeb hall.  At this event, we made postcards and other fun graphics for newly arrived refugee children and their families in Columbus. The postcards will be hung up on the Tree of Hope Wall at their school, where immigrant children who might be feeling down and need some cheering up, can take them freely off the wall and enjoy the fun messages we wrote for them. I believe this event and overall project relates unequivocally to the topic of International Affairs. These children and their families are not only affected directly by the political instability and violence that might be taking place back home, but also indirectly by the passive aggressive nature and, rather, blatant racism and prejudice of certain political figures and their followers here in the United States. Their lives have become politicized, and that is something that can take quite the toll on a child, let alone an entire family. This project was classified as a service event in the International Affair Scholars newsletter, and because we were engaging (albeit indirectly) with refugee children and their families, I believe this was an appropriate and fruitful use of my time as an IA Scholar, Ohio State student, and overall citizen of the world.

I also believe that I gained much personally from this event. Although I am not involved in the CRIS mentoring program like some of my fellow peers in IA, I felt as if I was making a very real impact in the lives of these children. If what we did on Tuesday can bring a smile to the face of even just one of those kids, then I would feel beyond content with the work IA put in that night. Even if it doesn’t, at least those children will know that there are people out there who care about them, and believe that they have a rightful place in this country, just like anyone else.

I don’t have any pressing questions after attending this event, but I do wish to be informed about when the Tree of Hope wall project will be completed, and how I can possibly get involved in the rest of the process. I had a fantastic time with my friends making those postcards, and I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Not to brag, but I made a pretty cool card with a cute little bee on the cover that said on the inside, “you have a bee-autiful soul!” I thought it was pretty clever. In all seriousness, however, I do hope that the kids enjoy reading our cards as much as we enjoyed making them. I can’t wait to attend more IA events throughout this academic year, and continue to grow academically, professionally, and personally within the program.

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