Q&A Session on Development Economics

8 April 2020

This event I attended was very different from any other event I have written about for IA. It was all virtual through Zoom and I attended from my house. Due to COVID-19 all events were suspended at Ohio State in person, so this event brought back some familiarity of being on campus with my IA peers and hearing from OSU faculty that I had missed.

This Q&A Session was with Dr. Joyce Chen, a professor at OSU, with a focus on Developmental Economics and her research in Bangladesh. We were asked to watch a short video she recorded ahead of time in preparation for the session. This video was an overview of her research, and how she got to where she is now as a professor and an international developmental economist. Then, at the live Zoom meeting, myself and other IA peers were able to chat and ask questions about her research and her experiences. For me, some of the questions asked were a little over my head as I am not an economics major and do not study almost anything in that field. However, I still gained some important things from the meeting.

First, I learned a lot about Bangladesh in general because that is where her research is focused. She especially focuses on migration and how climate change affects migration patterns in Bangladesh. Her study has been going on since before she joined in 2007, and she shared how migration patterns have changed with the urbanization of major cities over this time. A challenge that she has noticed recently in migrations, is that as many people migrate due to environmental concerns like high-sea levels, they move to more urban areas and cities. The issue is that these cities are still coastal and vulnerable to the environment so she said this would be important to see how it progresses in the future.

Secondly, she also mentioned how undergraduates like me can benefit from joining research. While I may not be necessarily interested in joining research studies devoted to economics, I can see the benefits from joining a research project. She mentioned the opportunities it can bring, such as in her case, traveling to other countries, gaining experience in your career field, and potentially being a senior thesis topic. All of these things can be beneficial for after undergrad and helping to grow experience and connections within your career field.

Lastly, this event is connected to IA in many ways. Firstly, she does research abroad in Bangladesh. This brings with it many challenges. She mentioned paying wages to American citizens who are working and conducting research abroad can be tricky, especially when the exchange rates don’t quite match value. Secondly, especially during this time of lockdowns and staying at home, she said its especially hard to communicate and conduct their surveys without being able to talk to people in person. All of her research and surveys must be conducted in another language as well, thus providing another barrier. Thus, her research kind of highlighted some of the challenges of working abroad while living in the U.S. and how to overcome those barriers which I hadn’t heard before from other IA events.

Taste of OSU

21 February 2020

Ohio Union, 5-7pm

Campus Event

This event was really fun to go to and was a great experience. Taste of OSU is a large event where several international and ethnic student organizations make native and authentic dishes from their backgrounds. This annual event is put on by the office of international affairs and is enjoyed by many from the Columbus area. Along with trying new foods, there are many different dances and performances by these student organizations, showcasing many different important rituals and dances of their cultures. Over 50 student organizations contribute unique recipes for people to try and literally “get a taste” of their culture and background.

 I tried food from 4 different countries while I was there; Frybread from the Native American club, cheesy potatoes from the French club, Bangladeshi rice, and falafel and hummus from the Students for Justice in Palestine club. Everything I tried was new to me except the falafel and hummus. My favorite ended up being the frybread as it was served with powdered sugar and honey and was basically a version of a donut. I decided to try food from these clubs specifically for a few different reasons. For the first 3 I have just never had authentic food from these countries and they seemed really delicious. For the falafel, I decided to get this because I grew up going to a Jewish preschool and summer camp and eating authentic food from this region. It has been a while since I have had authentic falafel and knew I would enjoy it. I also stuck around and watched quite a few performances from many clubs, which was really fun and entertaining.

Going to this event was a great learning experience. To start, I didn’t even know this many international and ethnic clubs existed at Ohio State, and it was cool to see them all in one place. Secondly, I learned a lot just by observation of all the different kinds of dishes that are a staple in diets around the world. Many of the Asian clubs had rice dishes and chicken, while other European clubs had dishes based more on carbs, and sweets. You don’t realize how much diets differ based on their regions until you see them all in one room! Secondly, I really enjoyed watching performances like a traditional Thai dance, KPOP dance clubs, and Palestinian wedding dances. It was cool to see different aspects of each culture represented in other ways besides their food.

This event definitely relates to IA as it was an entire event solely dedicated to learning about other cultures and ethnicities that may not be very familiar to others. For example, I am very familiar with Polish food and Mediterranean/Israeli foods due to my background and heritage. I grew up eating traditional Polish meals at home and at my grandma’s house, while also eating traditional Jewish meals at preschool and camp in the summer. However, many people have never had either of these cuisines, and I realized after this event that I have also not had many other cuisines. This event was really fun to try new foods and have exposure to cultures I have never been exposed to before. I loved this event, and will definitely go again next year to try more new foods!

A Day in the Life of a Harvard Law Student

January 16, 2020 Hagerty Hall 5:30 pm

Professional Development Event Reflection

This event I attended was an informational meeting about the day in the life of a law student at Harvard. The speaker was Sam Harris, the former president of the International Affairs Scholars program. She FaceTimed us and told us about her experiences so far in law school and her application and decision process. She was very informative and helpful in explaining how to take advantage of different opportunities available at Ohio State and how to make the most of our experiences while we can. She explained what she did while she attended Ohio State, why she decided to go to law school and how she got there. She also explained how she approached the LSAT and her interviews, as well as how her first year is going in general. 

Although I am not planning to go to law school, this event was very helpful for me. I plan on applying to medical school and this event was very helpful for me to see someone who has successfully graduated and gotten into their chosen postgraduate school. While some things like her tips for the LSAT, and how to impress law schools were not directly useful for me, I still learned a lot. She explained good ways to talk about yourself and how to be unique in interviews, as well as how to stay motivated during school and the long hours. Going forward, I have more information on how I can get more involved at Ohio State in things I am passionate about, and can be more confident going into the medical school application process in the next few years. This event helped me realize how to achieve my goals and see someone as an example and hear their advice. I think I have gained a new perspective on my future, and am a little less worried and more excited to see what I do after I graduate. 

This event relates to International Affairs in a few different ways. In terms of the program, the speaker was a former IA member and president, so it was cool to see where an IA alum is today. In terms of international affairs as a whole, she spoke a lot about why she wanted to go to law school, which was correlated with international affairs and her experiences. She also explained how her classmates are from different backgrounds, and the different perspectives she has encountered from her professors and law school admissions staff. I think this correlates with international affairs because these interactions with different people and different backgrounds or ideas is what international affairs is. These differences between people are why international affairs exist and communication skills in this sense are so important. Thus, this event was not directly about international affairs, but it connected through her experiences in law school and how we can use international affairs and the IA program to our advantage in the future. 

Global Water Crisis

Academic Event Reflection

24 October 2019

At this event, a speaker from the Global Water Institute spoke and presented about the global water crisis. This event was interesting to me because I did not know anything about this issue before the presentation. Something shocking I learned was that water will be the most pressing issue in this century. The speaker explained how the Global Water Institute here at Ohio State is working to help combat this issue in sub-saharan Africa currently. She explained the location where they work, Tanzania, has 27 million people without access to clean water which is roughly half of the country’s population. The villages in Tanzania have little infrastructure to have a steady access to clean water and many children and women walk on average 6 km daily to get water. This water is not clean and promote the spread of diseases and unwanted bacteria. This has increased the mortality of children under 5 years old and malnutrition rates. The institute is implementing solar powered water systems in these villages and working with the communities to combat this issue. We learned all about how they are working with villages to increase sanitation, clean water systems, and education on new farming techniques all to increase their health and overall access to clean water and stable food sources.

This topic relates to International Affairs in many different ways. Firstly, the entire topic of the global water crisis in general is and will be an international concern we will have to deal with as a planet. Countries will have to work together to find ways to provide clean water to everyone, this is already being done with organizations like the Global Water Institute. Secondly, with this organization specifically, they are working with people and communities who live completely different lives than themselves and find ways to work together and create a beneficial outcome together and for the future. This is inspiring to see two groups of people work together and overcome barriers like language, backgrounds and culture to learn and work together in this way. This is essential for the future and overcoming and improving the global water crisis.

For me personally, I learned a lot. I had not heard of this issue at all before attending the presentation, so I was very interested in hearing about how this issue is growing and how people are working to combat it. I was especially intrigued in how many different departments are involved to contribute to the cause. For example, solar engineers help create the solar panels for the water systems, environmentalists are involved in researching the water cleanliness, and sociologists help with learning about the different cultures in these areas and how people in this region live. I thought it was cool to see how many people are working together to help people gain access to clean water. It even sparked an interest in me to maybe get involved in this issue and learn more about it. Maybe in the future, I could use my interests in biology and help with research or use my Spanish skills and help people in other regions of the world with the same issues. Overall, this event was really interesting and hopefully I could help in the future.

Indigenous People’s Day

Campus Event Reflection

15 October 2019, 6-7 pm, Enarson Classroom Building

At this event, we discussed the history of Columbus Day and its shift to Indigenous People’s Day. This event was especially interesting to me because I learned a lot of information about the United States and its history that I had not known before. We first talked about Christopher Columbus and his legacy and how Columbus Day came about due to Italian-Americans wanting more representation and respect in America. I learned that Columbus actually brought many diseases to America and back to Europe, and although he is known for “discovering” the America’s there were actually ~50 million indigenous people living here already. Then, we watched a few videos and discussed indigenous people and what it is like to be indigenous today in the United States. I learned that only 1.5% of the U.S. is Native American which would correlate to only 60 people at Ohio State. That was interesting to hear as I never realized how small this group is and how underrepresented it is society. We then discussed how Columbus has shifted from glorifying the colonization of America to recognizing the indigenous groups and who founded the land we live on.

This topic is clearly related to International Affairs as we explored the many different cultures that live within our own borders that many of us had not heard of or known about beforehand. We also learned a lot about how these groups are misrepresented in media and society. We discussed how indigenous groups are misconstrued in media like the movie Pocahontas, sports teams and brands, as well as ways indigenous people can be culturally appropriated in halloween costumes or fashion choices. All of these topics helped us to see how to recognize and avoid this misrepresentation of indigenous people and any other group for that matter. This skill is useful when communicating with international people or even just others with different backgrounds and cultures. It is very necessary in order to not offend people and their cultures and show respect, while also being able to communicate with them effectively.

For me personally, I definitely gained a lot of insight about the history of our country and how it was founded and about indigenous groups living in the United States today. I did not know how small the indigenous population actually was and I didn’t realize how misrepresented they were in society. I also learned how to be more respectful of their culture and other cultures in general which is important. This event made me reflect on my own heritage and how my own ancestors could have felt this misrepresentation where they lived. My great-grandparents moved to the U.S. from Poland during World War 2, while I also have ancestors who fought in the Civil War and were living in the United States before its foundation. This helped me reflect and see how I may have some indigenous ancestors and helped me relate and try to understand this topic from my own life and family history. Thus, going forward, I learned a lot at this event about cultures in general and how to identify when they are being misrepresented and how I can help be a part of their recognition, like participating in events like Indigenous People’s Day.

Community Commitment

August 24, 2019, The Ohio Union, 8:00am-1:30pm

Service Event Reflection

This event was a service event put on by Pay It Forward in order to help out others in the Columbus Community. The group I was in, was assigned to go to the Community Resource Center and do yard work. We arrived and were met by a member who told us our tasks for the next few hours. The Community Resource Center provides quite a few resources to people who are 50+ years old such as, fitness/wellness classes and transportation around Columbus. More importantly the CRC provides a sense of community to those who may not want to go to nursing homes, but still need assistance. We were tasked with cleaning up the yards of some members who were physically unable to do so. We split up between 4 houses, other International Affair members and I ended up at a 70-year-old couple’s home to get rid of the weeds and poison ivy in their overgrown backyard. We all worked together in the few hours we had to clear as much of the yard as possible. We were not able to finish the entire yard, but it looked significantly better when we left.

Before

After

This event was impactful to me because it showed how teamwork and communication can vastly improve any situation. We were overwhelmed by how much work needed to be done when we showed up to the house. We all started doing our own things, not making much progress, however once we started working together and communicating about how to work more effectively as a whole, we made significant progress in just 15 minutes. Through this teamwork and communication, I was also able to meet many new members of IA and get to know them a little more while also clearing the yard.

Secondly, I learned a lot of essential leadership skills out of this experience. Our site leader was not very involved and did not give us direction. Thus, I and a few other members of our group, took charge and delegated roles to the rest of the group. This was very impactful to me as I was able to be a leader in a situation where it was very needed. Without taking charge, we may not have achieved as much as we did and would have been very unproductive in our task.

This event was related to International Affairs because we had to speak with older people who are hard of hearing and communicate with people in our group who we had not met prior in order to complete our task. This is something that is common when learning to communicate with others from different backgrounds or countries. It may be hard at first, but after the communication barrier is broken, it can lead to amazing experiences.

After attending this event, I felt like I had actually made a difference in someone’s life. We cleared over half of their backyard that had been overgrown for decades. They could not have done it themselves or without paying a company a large amount of money to do the same thing. I am so glad I could attend this event and make a difference, I hope to be able to do this throughout my life and in my career going forward.

Period. End of Sentence. Movie

Non-IA Event Reflection

18 March 2019, Smith-Steeb Hall, 8:30 pm

At this event, we watched the Oscar-winning documentary, “Period. End of Sentence” in honor of Women’s History Month. This movie was only a mere twenty six minutes, but in those twenty six minutes an inspiring and uplifting message was illustrated. In summary, this movie documented a small Indian village where a group of women started producing and making pads for the women in the village. The topic of menstruation and its stigma in the the community was discussed, and its affects were very apparent and astounding. The topic of menstruation for the women in the village is such an embarrassing topic for them which isalmost never discussed in the extremely patriarchal village and country. Many women and girls are never told about it and do not know how to properly handle it in a safe and sanitary way. The film documented the process of the women receiving and learning how to use a new “pad machine” and making durable, quality, long-lasting pads for the girls in their community. Eventually men learned as well, and helped make and sell their “fly pads” to women, and create a hopefully sustainable and more sanitary product for menstruation.

I was especially taken aback when I heard one of the women say she had to quit school due to her period. She had to constantly change throughout the day due to lack of quality feminine products and the constant glares from boys. Another astonishing fact was that the women used cloths and just left the dirty cloths outside in the grass and the dogs would play with them and carry them around. Lastly, it was so uplifting and motivational to see the girls and women learn, and become empowered and proud of themselves.

For me, this documentary really opened my eyes to the topic of menstruation. When I was younger, in school we were separated into boys and girls and taught about puberty and menstruation and how to deal with it when the time came. I have constant access to any and every feminine product and I had never even considered what it was like for girls in other countries with little to no access to these products. It was so crazy to me that something that is just a part of my life that I barely even think about, could be such a big hinderance in these women’s lives. I never thought that menstruation could be an obstruction to education, religion and even their occupations.

Finally, this documentary relates to international affairs because this movie delved into how something so normal and insignificant in my life can be such a big deterrent in others’ lives around the world. It is just one of the many examples of how things I never think about like menstruation, or eating dinner are the only thing other people think about and determines how they live. It also delved into the feminist movement and how feminism looks different around the world. For example, in the U.S. feminism may look like more representation in the government, while in this community feminism was viewed as going to church while menstruating. I’m so glad I decided to watch this documentary, it was so eye-opening and inspiring.

International Current Events Convo

Academic Event Reflection

4 March 2019, 8pm-9pm, Smith-Steeb Hall

I attended this Current Events Convo with Sam Stelnicki. At this event we got to learn about different events around the world that have been going on recently. We first played a Kahoot game to see what the group already knew about the current events we would be discussing; I learned that I did not know as much as I thought about current international events, so I was interested to learn about what I did not know.

After the Kahoot, we examined many different things going on throughout the world. We first talked about the dispute between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region. We watched a video about the long history of this dispute that dates back to 1947, this was one of the few things I had heard about before attending this event. We then discussed why it was relevant today since it has been such a long-lasting issue. On February 14th, 40 Indian soldiers were killed in this region thus igniting another series of violence and retaliation in last few week between the two countries. Next, we talked about the outcome of the Nigerian presidential election. The voter turnout was extremely low with only 1/3 of the population voting due to the election being delayeda week. There was also some dispute and claims that the election was rigged. We then also discussed the presidential dispute in Venezuela as Maduro and Guaido as they both try to claim power. The United States and many other countries throughout the world have showed their support for Juan Guaido due to the current humanitarian crisis that is present under Maduro’s rule in Venezuela. These were the events that really caught my attention. Other events that we also talked about included, Brexit, the US-North Korea Summit in Vietnam, and the tiniest baby that was born in Japan.

This event was not what I expected, in a good way. I was expecting to learn about things I already knew about, however while that was true to some degree, I left feeling like I actually knew what was going on around the world. Being so busy with “the college lifestyle” I had not realized how much I missed in the real world. I used to watch the news regularly, but now I can barely find the time to eat dinner. It was actually really enjoyable to get back into current events and the news and see whats going on. This event opened my eyes in a sense, and made me realize that I should pay attention more to the world outside of Ohio State’s campus. I have seemed to only focus on what’s going on around me and what affects me directly.

Lastly, this topic clearly relates to international affairs as we learned all about events currently taking place internationally, and how they are and will affect the United States and the world. While some of these events may not affect me personally, like the Kashmir dispute for example, I realized after this event that I should try to keep up with international events and be present with the issues that are currently affecting people around the world.

MLK Day of Service

Service Event Reflection

21 January 2019, 8am-1pm, Ohio Union and COSI

The MLK Day of Service was a very cool and intriguing experience. It first started with an opening program featuring a variety of speakers, dancers, singers and other performances to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Aretha Franklin (unique to this year especially). Myself and other International Affair members then took a bus to our program site, COSI. At COSI, we helped make “Video Conference Kits” for students to learn from. The COSI team informed us about their video conferences where teachers can schedule a time to conference while the students follow the lesson with their specific kits. I specifically helped separate 4 inch clear tubing into kits, and put them into bags of 8 after others in the group had cut them to the correct size. We later learned the kits we were designed for a lesson to help teach students about arteries and stents. The tubing was a model of an artery that would be paired with straws and balloons from other stations in order to demonstrate how stents can prevent or correct blockage in an artery. Later we helped other groups finish their tasks and counted out groups of rubber bands.

This event impacted me because it was actually a really fun event, and the COSI team was so thankful for our help. We were only there for a few hours but without us, these tasks would have taken them days to complete. This event showed me that community service doesn’t have to be a burden, and a little effort can make the world of a difference in others’ lives. Academically, I really loved the event at COSI because I am very interested in a medical career, and am currently pursuing a biology major. Thus, creating the kits for students to learn about the cardiovascular system (one of my favorite topics) and treatments was very enjoyable for me. Professionally, I also learned how to interact with different people in the professional field, it was fun getting to know the COSI team and learning about what they do for students around the nation.

This event relates to International Affairs in the sense that every service event was focused around MLK Day and working together to complete a common goal. I met many new people who had a shared interest in serving the Columbus community. On the bus ride back to OSU, our group discussed and reflected on our experience and how it impacted us. A common consensus was that we all thought it was really cool how people from all different backgrounds could all come together on one day and help others. This relates to International Affairs because this idea of putting differences aside to work together is essential in communicating with others no matter where they are from. Many people in today’s world lack this skill and only focus on our differences, but this event showed me when we change our perspective to focus on our similarities, we can get a lot more done.

Jewelry Around the World

Non-IA Event Reflection

6 November 2018, 6-7 pm, Enarson Classroom Building

At this Global Engagement Night, we discussed jewelry from around the world and its history. We learned about the origins of jewelry from the time of neanderthals over 100,000 years ago, to modern jewelry in today’s society. We also learned about the different types of jewelry from around the world and how the value of different types of jewelry are different depending on the culture. Some countries that were discussed were India, Ireland, China, Egypt, Kenya, Japan, Bulgaria, and Israel. Some interesting things I learned was that diamonds were not popular for engagement rings until the Great Depression when a diamond company DeBeers started marketing them very well. Secondly, in China, Jade is regarded as more valuable than gold, and in India if a bride does not wear gold, “there is no wedding”. This changed how I think about jewelry, I never really thought about it in terms of culture and now I will definitely see different types of jewelry differently.

This topic related to the topic of International Affairs as the jewelry we discussed was from all different parts of the world, we also discussed how jewelry is a major part of different cultures and can say a lot about a person. We also talked about how jewelry has changed over time, and how certain events changed the jewelry industry, but also how some pieces are practically timeless. In a different context, the event itself was very international. The room where the event was held was filled with international students which was cool to see. For the first time since being at Ohio State, I felt like I didn’t belong because I was born in the United States. Before the event started, many people were speaking in different languages and it was super cool to hear their input on jewelry from their countries.

Personally, I gained a more open mind. I learned how jewelry is viewed differently around the world, and I never thought about how important gold is in the Indian culture, or how the colored beads in Kenyan bracelets symbolize different things. I think going forward I will have a better appreciation for jewelry. I have never been a person who wears a lot of jewelry, but after this event I can see how important it is to other people from different places, and what it means to them. Academically, I learned a lot of history about jewelry and how certain pieces came about and the origins of jewelry. I have never taken a class about jewelry or the history of jewelry, but after going to this event I would be very interested in taking one. Professionally, I learned a lot about, and met really interesting people from other countries. I think after each event I go to for International Affairs Scholars, I learn more and more about how to interact with people who are not like me, or from the United Staes. Overall, I found it so interesting to learn about the evolution of jewelry and how it makes up a huge part of some cultures, I am definitely very interested in learning more in the future.