2nd Year Reflection #6

With the current state of our world and our distanced learning I have been keeping up with the Office of International Affairs online by attending virtual Global Engagement Nights and following along with the weekly emails. One of the recurring events that the OIA has been able to maintain at a distance was the International Film series; with countless films being made available to Ohio State students via Kanopy, the frequency of the film viewing has increased from once a month at Gateway Film Center to once every week on your couch. 

The scheduled film for this week was The Farewell, and a live virtual discussion and interactive chat was to be held on Thursday, April 30 at 6 p.m. via CarmenZoom. The film follows a Chinese-American family who, upon learning their grandmother has only a short while left to live, decide not to tell her and schedule a family gathering before she dies. It is based in part on director Lulu Wang’s life experiences, and the film opened with the words: “Based On An Actual Lie.” I found this to be very interesting as we typically see the words “Based On A True Story” at the beginning of films pertaining to real world events.

As I continued to watch, though, the more I understood; a big part of what set this film apart from the typical ones “based on a true story” were its roots in Chinese culture and tradition. While slightly comedic, the storyline was dramatic and suspenseful, culminating in the mystery of Nai Nai’s fate. Nai Nai was the grandmother at the center of the lie, being protected from the truth of her stage four lung cancer by her family and her granddaughter, Billi, who, after living in the United States for twenty-five of her thirty years of life, could not wrap her head or her heart around the family’s bid to shelter Nai Nai from the truth.

Struggling to keep the secret whilst spending her last time on earth with her Nai Nai, Billi’s uncle had to explain to her, “There are things you must understand… You guys moved to the West long ago. You think one’s life belongs to oneself. But that’s the difference between the East and West. In the East, a person’s life is part of a whole. Family. Society.” While helping to explain the family’s actions and justify Billi’s pain, her uncle acknowledged one of the many ways in which culture in the East differs from that in the West, specifically in the United States.

I really appreciated this point in the film, the crux for me, because of this distinction and explanation, rooted in love and in culture. I studied Mandarin in high school, and I was pleasantly surprised to remember a few phrases here and there. This scene especially made me miss my teachers and the lessons wherein we learned about Chinese culture that I found to be so unique and enriching in a course where such was about as important as learning the language itself. I am so glad I chose to watch this film, and I loved the sentiments that it involved, the values that Billi’s family held. And while it was “based on an actual lie,” it was so awesome to see at the conclusion of the film that Lulu Wang’s Nai Nai had still been living for six years after her diagnosis. “It is not about what you do in life. It is about how you do it.”

2nd Year Reflection #5

About a week and a half ago on Monday, April 20th, I attended a half hour Zoom webinar regarding the “Peace Corps for Business Students.” On the call, Laura Joseph, a Peace Corps Coordinator, and Nick Dysle, a returning volunteer, talked about how the Peace Corps can be an opportunity to take your business degree and turn it into an international volunteer opportunity complete with a living stipend, travel benefits, career support, and access to graduate school benefits. The two specifically spoke on the Peace Corps Community Economic Development Track. 

All of this sounded wonderful! What’s more is that I had not realized before seeing the event title on my calendar that my business degree and the knowledge could be applied to a Peace Corps experience. We had listened to Peace Corps volunteers speak in the past and learned a little about what they do and where they do it, and the thought of making such a lasting and tangible impact on a community really piqued my interest. But I never thought that I would have too much skill or knowledge to bring to the program if I ever decided to join. At least that was the case until I heard Nick speak about his experience.

Laura ran us through a brief history of the organization, some administrative information, and her time working in Benin, before introducing Nick Dysle. Nick went to Kent State University where he got his BBA in Business Management, and shortly after he graduated in the fall, he applied to the Peace Corps and was headed to Madagascar in a matter months. Nick explained the screening and application process as nothing too burdensome or excessive and pretty easy once you are committed. From there, he gave us a detailed rundown of all that he did in Madagascar and everything he took away from his time there.

He enlightened us to the fact that there were six sectors in which you could volunteer, one of them being Community Economic Development. After two months of intensive and immersive language acquisition, Nick became fluent enough to apply what he had learned with his Business Management background and train a dairy association of 20 members to make cheese and assisted them in creating a small cheese factory while implementing marketing and logistic strategies to increase urban area cheese sales by over 50% annually. He explained how he introduced and helped practice basic accounting principles to accomplish these things and more.

Nick co-facilitated GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) and BRO (Boys Respecting Others) youth camps, established youth clubs at 3 local schools to teach students about new farming techniques, wrote and implemented five different grants, and developed trainings to alleviate production problems and increase average milk production by 400% over his 3 years. All of the work that he did and his excitement in recounting it was very inspiring, and his passion for the program continued as he explained its facilitation of friendships and bonds that he has carried with him today.

Nick explained that you not only come out of the program with such amazing experiences AND fluency in your assigned country’s language, but that you are also able to travel and experience other parts of that country in the little free time that you get. He also mentioned that public sector and graduate school benefits follow you home as Nick is now getting his MAE and MPA from Ohio State. He could not speak highly enough of his time in Madagascar. 

I found the webinar to be extremely helpful and informative in regards to what I might choose to do after graduation, especially with the insight of the opportunities to apply business knowledge and practices through Peace Corps. I really enjoyed hearing from Laura and Nick about their experiences and their passion for the Peace Corps. It was inspiring to see their love for the people with whom they worked and their excitement at the positive change they facilitated. I am really happy that I decided to attend this event, and I look forward to taking what I learned and keeping it in the back of my head as I continue to shape my post-graduate plans.

2nd Year Reflection #4

Three weeks ago on Thursday, January 16th, I spent an hour in Hagerty Hall Room 180 attending the academic/ professional development event: A Day in the Life of a Harvard Law Student. At this event, we gathered around Lindsey’s laptop for a FaceTime call with Sam Harris, Ohio State and IA Alum (’19), to hear about her experiences as a 1L at Harvard Law School. I was very excited for this event and the opportunity to hear from Sam because just last year we were living on the same floor, and I looked forward to catching up a little with the life of the best Resident Advisor ever.

After a bout of technical difficulties, we were able to secure a connection with Sam, and she started to tell us all about her experience during her first semester as well as what it took from her time at OSU to get there. While this event did not particularly relate to the topic of International Affairs, I did gain a lot personally from Sam’s advice and the sharing of her experiences at Harvard thus far. In the hour-long discussion, I would say that I took away three major pieces advice imparted upon us by Sam.

The first piece of advice that I found to be extremely relevant and applicable to my current situation was from Sam’s explanation that in applying to the top schools that she did, no one cared about what positions she held in clubs or how many honors societies she was in; they were more interested in what she put into and got out of her involvements. She encouraged us to actually participate and get involved in things on campus that interest us and not to do something just so we can add it to our resume; in doing so, she said that we would have at least as much if not more to talk about from taking part in something that we were actually passionate about, which I found to be very reassuring.

Secondly, she advised us, in typical Sam fashion, to exploit Ohio State for all that we could, whether it be through STEP or applying for as many study abroad and academic scholarships as possible. She explained that she didn’t pay a penny for any of her experiences abroad, and she suggested that we do the same. Finally, she gave us insight to the application process for Top 14 law schools, as Harvard, and she dispelled common myths and misconceptions for us while giving useful pointers and advice. I was very surprised to hear about how typical and behaviorally based her interviews were. And I was most surprised to hear that not a lot of schools even required them.

I found the call to be extremely helpful and informative in regards to how I should spend the rest of my time here at Ohio State and how best to prepare for the next chapter of my life. I very much enjoyed hearing from Sam and how she has been while also learning from her experiences and the successes that got her to where she is today. I am really happy that I decided to attend this event, and I look forward to taking what I learned from Sam and applying it myself (and, of course, to the next time we hear from THE Samantha Harris again).

2nd Year Reflection #3

Two weeks ago on Monday, September 2nd, I spent two hours from 5:00-7:00pm on the 3rd floor of Page Hall attending a professional development event at the Battelle Center Professional Development Workshop. I did have doubts as I came into this event, though, as I was skeptical of what all else I would learn beyond what I had picked up from being in a professional business fraternity for the past year. To my great fortune and surprise, I learned a lot. 

The workshop focused on the transition students go through when they graduate and become professionals. We engaged in a facilitated conversation with three Battelle Center Alumni who have established themselves in the workplace at various organizations and agencies, and they helped to bring us to a better understanding of the transition from student life to that of a young professional. While this event did not specifically relate to the topic of International Affairs or any other topics I have learned in my coursework, I did gain a lot professionally from this event. 

Before addressing all of the panelists with any unanswered questions from the collective group of students, we were split up into three small groups and each assigned to a panelist to first have our questions answered on a more intimate level. I was assigned to the group led by panelist and former Aerospace Engineering student Howie Schulman. He now works for Made In Space, Inc. in Jacksonville Florida as an aerospace engineer and has done so since before his graduation in 2018 in starting there as an intern in their early startup phase. Howie addressed the notion of burnout and its reality through his experience working for a budding startup and surrounded by the grind culture that absorbed him and his time. He explained its draining and depressing effects and then transitioned to the importance of having a healthy work-life balance. He told us how he stayed active by frequenting the beach to surf on the weekends as well as filling his time outside of work during the week by hanging out with friends and grabbing drinks at local bars for the sake of his social life and sanity.

Some other great tips that I gathered from the session including all three panelists were to respect the time of your superiors and to keep notes, as weird as it sounds, on your coworkers. All panelists agreed on the importance of respecting the time of your superiors before asking them questions that can be answered with five minutes of research on Google or keeping them from work by dragging out a conversation for too long. One panelist explained the importance of their time, and, while it is extremely valuable and should take advantage of their wisdom, we should be mindful of its importance to the superior themselves, as well. The third panelist also suggested that we keep notes on our coworkers not just for water cooler conversation starters but also to help us make lasting connections with our coworkers as we begin to get to know the office and the organization; she explained how this helped her to keep the overload of new details in order, too. All of the panelists also stressed the importance of maintaining relationships not only for professional gain but personally, as well, which I really appreciated. 

I found the conference to be extremely helpful and informative in regards to etiquette and approach upon entering the work force. I very much enjoyed learning from the panelists and hearing their unique perspectives formed by their personal experiences in each of their respective fields. I am very glad that I decided to attend this panel, and I look forward to taking what I learned on that day and applying it myself.

2nd Year Reflection #2

This past Friday morning on September 27th, I spent an hour and a half, from 9:00-10:30am, on the 11th floor of Thompson Library attending a non-IA event at the COMPAS Conference titled “Who is an American?” At this event, I was educated on a variety of topics regarding what people think it means and what it actually means to be “an American.” I thoroughly enjoyed this event not only for its content but also for it open forum, free-spoken structure where the panelists fielded audience questions and made a very intellectual, academic event feel much more conversational. 

While this event does not directly relate to any other topics I have learned about in other coursework, this event specifically relates to the topic of International Affairs in its relation to the vast spectrum that is the American population and the influence of this population on political, economic, and legal facets of the United States. For the half of the conference that I was able to attend, the two panelists that spoke on these matters were Deborah Schildkraut, a political science professor from Tufts University, and Elizabeth Cohen, a professor at Syracuse University whose focus lies in citizenship and related fields.

I gained a lot personally from the conference in knowledge and conversational fire-power that allowed me to be better informed and to better contribute towards discussions relating to the idea of what it means to be American. In the same way, I gained a lot academically in being challenged by these notions of what it means to be American and learning from the conversation surrounding this topic that blossomed from the panelists’ presentations.

Professor Schildkraut spoke mostly on the statistics behind U.S. citizen sentiments towards the idea of what it means to be an American, and the numbers were quite interesting. According to a couple of studies, having American ancestry and being born in the U.S. were deemed least important by the survey participants, of the questions asked, in regards to what it means to be an American. Conversely, following American customs and speaking English were deemed to be the two most important facets of being an American. Very interestingly, as well, under 25% of the participants thought that it was important to be of European heritage or descent while over 50% decided that being Christian was important to be considered an American. 

Professor Cohen spoke a lot on citizenship and cited some facts regarding our current administration and public attitudes about immigration and immigration policy. She talked on the Trump administration and how Trump has decided to create a mass deportation machine because “we” have decided that these people cannot be here. She told us that the budget for ICE is ten times larger than the budget for INS was in 1993, and also how customs and border protection is now larger than all other law agencies. After sharing these statistics, she wanted to emphasize that we should recognize that before we try to push those out who are wanting to attain citizenship, they are American, too.

Cohen said that, from her research and experience, public opinion generally supports the idea of immigrations and immigrants, and if we derived our legislation from public opinion the circumstances of placement might be made better. Around these circumstances, I thought Professor Schildkraut made a great point in that there is a constant nostalgia for the good old days when people actively pursued the American dream, citizenship, and learning English… but that still exists today and in such great capacity. Professor Cohen agreed in her belief, a very commonly shared one, that we are a nation of immigrants, but today’s immigrants, whenever today is, are always compared to these mythical immigrants of earlier times that were, for whatever reason (and very falsely claimed), easier to take.

With the discussion-based vibe of the conference, it was brought up by an audience member that it is incorrect and exclusive to say that we are a nation of immigrants when many generations’ ancestors were brought to the U.S. involuntarily and against their will. I found this to be a great point and definitely something to keep in mind the more I speak and reflect on this topic. In the same way, it was noted by Professor Cohen that she tries as hard as she can to avoid speaking and writing using the word “American” because it refers not only to the United States but the continental Americas. 

This was a pet peeve of mine when I was abroad this past summer, and, when asked where we were from, my friend would respond, “… from America,” instead of correctly explaining that we were from the United States. The last point that Professor Schildkraut made that I found to be quite interesting and unfortunate at the same time was that, while the results of the surveys were interesting, it is important to note that just because the participants showed strong feelings and support for immigration, the data reveals no evidence of action. 

I found the conference to be extremely interesting, though-provoking, and informative. I very much enjoyed learning from the panelists and hearing from the number of unique perspectives provided by audience, as well. I am very glad that I decided to attend this conference as I was enlightened by the issues surrounding Americanism, and my own perspective and approach to such topics and related issues were enhanced, as well.

2nd Year Reflection #1

A few weeks ago, on August 27th, I spent an hour of my afternoon attending an information session and presentation about the 9 Dimensions of Wellness put on by the Student Wellness Center from 7:00-8:00pm in Mendenhall 100. At this Academic event, we were educated on a variety of topics including the programs and services provided by the Student Wellness Center, the 9 Dimensions of Wellness, how to set “SMART Goals,” and more. It was very useful information and served as a much-needed refresher and elaboration on the services and programs we were educated on during my first year as well as an introduction to other services, programs, and approaches to wellness that I had not yet had insight on.

While this event does not specifically relate to the topic of International Affairs or any other topics I have learned about in my coursework, it can be more broadly applied to either as it has to do with my own personal wellness and the wellness of others, both of which are pertinent to any and all activities or pursuits I might take part in that include other people. With everything going on in the lives of college students these days, I think it was especially important for the first years and second years alike to be educated, or re-educated, on the topic of overall wellness and how to achieve it via individual means as well as through the free campus programs provided by the Student Wellness Center.

I found learning about programs including the Nutrition Coaching, the Body Project, Wellness Ambassadors, and Wellness Coaching to be most interesting and important in the span of the one hour session. While all nine dimensions are important, I feel strongly that, especially for college students, the two most important, foundational, and fundamental dimensions to ensure success in achieving wellness in all other seven dimensions are physical and emotional wellness. With these dimensions being the most important in my opinion, I do not mean to discredit any of the other dimensions or programs affiliated with them. Personally, I have seen and experienced struggle with both of these dimensions and have found that it is helpful to be well in these areas to achieve wellness in the others. Also, these programs stuck out to me because they are either programs I would like to use myself or would like for others to make use of being that they are free and so easily accessed. 

I found the presentation to be extremely helpful and informative. I very much enjoyed the the goal setting activities along with the open discussions about these goals and their relation to the nine dimensions of wellness. The other scholars were very open and revealing in their answers which surprised me because most of the attendees were first years. Their honesty and vulnerability was inspiring and their intentions to accomplish these goals were encouraging. I am very glad that I decided to attend this presentation on the 9 Dimensions of Wellness put on by the Student Wellness Center because of the insight that I gained not only into all the university has to offer but into the lives of my fellow peers, as well. 

Reflection #6

Last weekend on April 6th, I spent an hour of my afternoon volunteering at the Board of Activities for Smith-Steeb’s Sibs and Kids Weekend Carnival Extravaganza, a Service event that I was able to work from 4 to 5pm outside of Smith-Steeb Hall. At the event, I helped with the arrangement and distribution of the different snacks provided at the venue, and I also helped to encourage attendees to sign up for the free raffling of the ten dollar gift cards that were given away during the event.  

I was surprised by how much this event touched me in the way that it did, especially with the semester coming to close so soon. It was a blast getting to watch the kids run around and have fun with their older siblings as they jumped on the inflatables and threw a football back and forth. Not one kid left without a smile on their face whether it be due to the snow cone they were devouring or the joke their older brother or sister had made to them, and that stood out to me. What stood out even more to me, however, was the inattention paid to the raffling by the kids and siblings as we gave out the gift cards. I mean, FREE MONEY, people; those are two words every person loves to hear. Am I right?! Either way, most everyone at the event were pretty inattentive during this piece of the programming, and it was a struggle to get them to quiet down and focus enough on the giveaway. This was largely in part due to their desire to keep playing with one another and with their family because of their time away and the gift that was this reunion. And that stuck with me, too.

While the event itself and my role volunteering did not relate to the topic of International Affairs, I personally gained a lot from this experience. I very much needed to see these interactions and smiling faces which served to me as a reminder of the blessings that are my siblings and my family. Whilst being away at college, I have in no way forgotten about my siblings or my family, but I have not kept up with them as much as I should have. After everything they have done for me and are to me, this experience has woken me up to my actions, or lack thereof. While there are so many distractions to keep me from calling or a sending a simple text, there is still no excuse not to take the time for these simple actions. When I think about the things that are most important in my life, family always falls at the top of the list, and volunteering on that Saturday has opened my eyes to my hypocrisy, there. And while I cannot wait to be home and will be very soon, that has not stopped me and will not stop me from sending an “I love you” to my parents or a meme to my little brothers every day for the rest of the semester. 

Overall, I very much enjoyed the Sibs and Kids Weekend Carnival Extravaganza and the atmosphere it created. The students and their siblings alike were awesome, and the experience as a whole reminded me to reflect more on my immediate family, beyond the Buckeye family that surrounds me every day. I am very glad that I decided to volunteer at the Sibs and Kids Weekend Carnival Extravaganza, and I look forward to bringing my siblings to participate next year, as well. 

Reflection #5

This past weekend on March 3rd I spent my evening at Arab Night, a Non-IA event starting at 6 PM in Performance Hall at the Ohio Union. There, I was simply a member of the audience, but I was immediately immersed into the culture and the spirit of the other attendees; everyone was smiling and singing and cheering, celebrating their country and their culture. This event greatly impacted my perspective on the existence of such a large Arab student population on this campus, consisting of about 3,000 students, and their underrepresentation. At the event, they employed a part of their “We Exist” campaign to push for the recognition of Middle Eastern and North African as an ethnic category on papers and applications and for the consideration and creation of certain scholarships. I found this movement and passion from the students to be very inspiring and long overdue, in my opinion.

The event consisted of many parts including a musical performance, poetry, and a fashion show, but my favorite part of this event was the initial procession and presentation of the countries and the flags. The national pride and exaltation of identity among the presenters and those in the audience was incredible, contagious, even. And I found that I could not help but smile as each country came in, one after the other. I very much enjoyed the communal aspect of this event what with the large portion of the audience being non-students, and I was surprised, probably mostly due to my own ignorance, by the large Palestinian representation amongst the crowd and students. Their patriotism was exciting, and the participating students were so proud of their heritage that two students who presented the flag for Jordan even ran back into the processional line to represent Palestine, too. This pride was inspiring, and their love for their culture and their identity was unlike anything I’ve seen in many other places. 

I really gained a lot from this experience personally through this pride that the students and the attendees showed in regards to their culture and identity. With my dad being from Venezuela, and therefore my being half-Venezuelan, I feel a sense of guilt almost after attending Arab Night. Seeing the immense passion in their patriotism and the expression of their pride made me feel bad about my own reception and expression of my Venezuelan culture and heritage. While my family continues to eat Venezuelan cuisine every Wednesday night back at home, I have struggled to keep up the tradition after coming to college. Being away from home, I have also lacked a general exposure to my Venezuelan culture, and, after Arab Night, I find myself feeling the need to further involve myself and surround myself with my Hispanic background here on campus as these Arab students have. 

 Overall, I very much enjoyed Arab Night and the atmosphere it cultivated. The organizers and attendees alike were wonderful, and the experience as a whole was very thought-provoking, inducing a lot of self-reflection. I am very glad that I decided to attend Arab Night, and I look forward to attending next year, as well.

Reflection #4

Yesterday on January 28th, I spent an hour at an Academic event, “So You Think You Can Research?” on the first floor of Smith-Steeb Hall. There, I attended a question and answers based discussion with a panel of undergraduate students seeking to better inform us about research opportunities and their experiences with research on campus. The activity very much opened my eyes to wealth of different research opportunities and the many different routes to take when conducting research or assisting in such. For example, when I heard the word “research,” up until this event I had always only associated the word with scientific studies and experiments. Naively, I never thought that the word could be applied to many different fields like the arts and humanities or economics and international studies; I found the variety and many the many different possibilities to be very interesting and encouraging should I decide to pursue research at all. 

This event, while not obviously related to International Affairs, is tied to the area in its scope because, as I have learned, there can be research done in many different disciplines and International Affairs encompasses a variety of these different fields done. While this event does not relate to any other topics I have learned about in my coursework thus far, I gained a lot from this event academically. Beyond learning the range of possibility when coming to the area in which research can be conducted, I also learned a lot about the different types of research conducted across these different areas. The levels of commitment and the methods of conduction for the different types of research across the different disciplines was interesting, and the variety of options and personalization in deciding the type of desired research was also appealing. 

It was great to hear how much all of the students on the panel loved their research experiences, too. They spoke very highly of their research projects, and they were very passionate about their exploration in their given fields of research. One pice of advice imparted on me that they stressed very highly, though, was that you should only participate in research that you actually care about, and that if you are committing time to a project that you are not happy on and that does not interest you then you should drop it and all parties involved will be completely understanding. Another thing I found to be very cool in the overall idea of research was where these students had started and where they were taking their research. Now, they are writing their own theses and leading their own studies which I found to be very inspiring and impressive. 

After attending this event, I would love to learn more about the different research possibilities within business and possibly those outside of Fisher, as well. I would definitely like to better understand what I could do to take part in research on campus and to see whether or not research is something for me. Overall, I very much enjoyed the panel, and I am glad to have had my eyes opened to such unique and enriching opportunities.

Reflection #3

This past weekend on December 1st, I spent an hour at an Academic event, a conference on “Societies Under Stress: Welfare and Penal Policies amid Rising Insecurity,” at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. There, I attended a talk led by Sarah Brooks and Marianne Ulriksen on their paper titled: “Why do people support redistribution in high-crime settings?” More specifically, they spoke to redistribution in South Africa and their high-crime setting. This topic definitely changed my perspective on apartheid and its effect on the people of South Africa as well as their thoughts on apartheid retrospectively. It was very interesting to see the responses of citizens reflecting on apartheid in hindsight and hearing their different opinions and feelings on it in relation to redistribution. 

This event directly relates to the topic of International Affairs in its analysis of redistribution and its relation to rising insecurity across the globe and more specifically in South Africa. The insight provided by citizens in different focus groups and surveys was very informative and gave such unique perspectives in regards to redistribution and apartheid. This topic does not necessarily relate to any other topics I have learned in my coursework, but I did gain a lot from the event academically. 

While the critiques on the paper and its methods from the panel were warranted and no-doubt useful for the authors, I was most interested in the content and analysis of the paper presented. I was not surprised by the fact that people were in general agreement that the government should do something to reduce inequality. Brooks and Ulriksen noted that people supported redistribution but disagreed with what they wanted to be taxed on to improve services. The tax burden fell on the wealthy, and the poorer people were in strong support of redistribution due to fear of crime and the reasons behind this crime, something I had never thought of. 

This is where I was most intrigued by the relation between crime and support for redistribution, much of which stems from apartheid. What with South Africa’s work towards equality now, people think that criminals have more rights than they did because there is too much freedom. This is a very odd-sounding take on freedom to have and something I never would have thought to be an issue. But back in the days of apartheid, there was more order, and people had this sense that things were better, or at least more controlled, with the existence of violent retribution. Now, police are afraid of gangsters, and some people think they should bring back the death penalty because it would control the gangsters.

This take on redistribution and apartheid seemed so foreign and extreme to me that the people would want to reinstate something like the death penalty. Other thoughts like the citizens’ idea that criminals have it even better in prison with too many rights and KFC chicken is almost laughable. But at the same time, these different perspectives are very eye-opening and shocking in a good way. The authors’ relation of this current situation to that of post-communist Eastern European countries where the same people who hated communism became nostalgic of the days when there was no crime on the streets was also incredibly insightful.

After attending this event, I would love to learn more about South African citizens’ experience with apartheid and its influence on their thoughts about redistribution. I would definitely like to better understand their individual thought processes and the analysis of the responses from the different socioeconomic groups, as well. Overall, I very much enjoyed the conference, and I am glad to have had my eyes opened to such an authentic perspective and concept.