Recently, I attended a Global Fluency Training. This event was on February twenty-first and was led by Brad Gosche from the Columbus Council of World Affairs. Furthermore, this event satisfied my academic requirement for IA. I really enjoyed this event and honestly wish it would have lasted longer. I found the training both educational and interesting. I was fascinated by all the stories Brad had to share and hope to talk to him more. He was an excellent speaker who was both very entertaining and informative. I believe that I learned a lot from this training.
This event had a very significant effect on me. While attending this event I slowly realized what Brad was doing was my “dream job”. After the training I asked him about potential internship opportunities with the Columbus Council of World Affairs and plan on applying for them. I also sent him an email in hope of setting up a meeting with him and learning more about what he does. As an education major, the idea of teaching individuals the value of global fluency is very fascinating. Additionally, as someone with a Hispanic background I can clearly see the value of this training and only hope more people attend a training session.
I found this event incredibly helpful for me, both personally and academically. During this training we did a simulation of two opposite cultures trying to interact with each other, I found this experience both frustrating and enlightening. I was frustrated by how difficult it was to try to communicate with someone with completely opposite cultural norms but found this struggle educational . From this experience I learned that I want to learn more about being a more globally engaged and educated citizen.
This experience is extremely relevant to the topic of international affairs because global fluency teaches us that we always have to be conscious of our actions and furthermore how people from other cultures may perceive them. This is an extremely valuable skill in an increasingly diverse world. As the demographics of 21st century classrooms continue to evolve and welcome more minority groups into the picture, this skill is more useful and relevant than ever before.
I hope to continue my global fluency training on my own and plan on pursuing an internship at the Columbus Council of World Affairs. I believe this training was extremely beneficial for me and hope that it sends me in the right direction. The idea of both traveling and being able to teach its truly captivating and a new potential career path. In the coming weeks and months, I hope to begin to hone my skills of global fluency. I understand that mastery of this skill is impossible and that there is always more to learn; I find this both extremely interesting and enticing. Knowing that I want to both travel and teach in the coming future, this global fluency training was invaluable. Lastly, I would like to reiterate the importance of this training in todays world and encourage everyone to take this training.