Coming into college I felt I already had more experience than most with global studies given the fact that I have been lucky enough to visit Europe on three different occasions. My family and I have visited Ireland, Span and Italy and on all three trips I learned so much about those countries and how they differed from America. However, what was more surprising was how those countries were so similar, at least in the metropolitan areas. Here in the cities, globalization is most notable, with recognizable fast food chains and many tourist-based attractions and the fact that many people speak English even if it isn’t their first language.
In college I also learned more about other countries from both my coursework and fellow students. When students from different backgrounds gave their point of view in class discussion it was always interesting to hear how they connected with the content differently than I did. One example of learning from others is how I learned more about Palestine and their struggles through in-depth conversations with one of my friends in a Palestinian life on film class. Finally, the last source of added global awareness is talking with my fellow executive board members in my club. We have a diverse e-board so hearing about the different experiences growing up, and relationship structures in Chinese and Indian families was very informative. I hope I can continue to find people of diverse backgrounds who I can connect with so that my knowledge base of other communities can grow and so that I can better connect with people from that community in the future.