Reflection
Attending school in such a diverse city and at such a diverse university has truly been an amazing experience for me. I am also glad to have participated in the Global Learning Program here at FIU, which I feel has only furthered my global awareness and engagement. Because this university puts such an emphasis on the "International" part of their name, I feel as though I am not only given the ability to be informed on what's happening around the world, but I am also given the option to deeply explore these current events and understand why they happen or have happened. I think one of my favorite ways to do this was by attending the Tuesday Times Roundtables that the Global Learning Program hosted weekly. I really enjoyed that not only did we get to hear what the knowledgeable speaker had to say on the topic of the day, but we also got to have a conversation with them about it. I remember always leaving those roundtables wanting to continue the conversation, usually going to my friends and asking them of their knowledge of the subject.
Another thing I've enjoyed about these programs is how you are made aware of how nothing in this world is isolated. Everything is interconnected. I feel as though this message was really drilled into me at my current internship in which I work as a Learning Assistant for a global learning course, Intro to Environmental Science. Although the title makes it sound like a strictly science course, it's actually very interdisciplinary. We always try to make sure that the students know this. We cover many topics that vary from general ecology to the vaccination debate and human food systems. I really love assisting in teaching that class. This internship has truly helped me develop my public speaking skills as well as learning how to teach people in general. I still definitely have a ways to go in developing these skills, but teaching people is something that I would like to continue doing even after I've left this college job. The Learning Assistant job is actually what that showed me that I really love teaching people in the first place. I am very thankful for that.
After graduating from FIU, I hope to still be an engaged global citizen and demonstrate that in everything I do. From past internships such as the ones I mentioned in the Experiences page that took me to the Midwest, I learned that even though we live in the same country, people are so incredibly different and have different expectations, even when you are trying to reach the same goal. In a work setting, I found that communication is so important, especially because you want to be sure that everyone is on the same page. It can be frustrating when there is no communication among teammates. I hope to carry these lessons learned with me into future jobs.
I am so thankful for all of the experiences I've been able to have through the Global Learning program at FIU. The most recent experience that comes to mind that I am particularly thankful for this year is the Global Learning Living Learning Community that I live in on campus. Instead of just living in a regular dorm, I live on a floor with other students who are part of this program, all striving to be better global citizens. I'm so thankful for all of the friends I have made and all of the experiences we have had together. Because the LLC's main focus is to get us to be better global citizens, we've participated in a lot of programs that allow us to share our own cultures, learn about new ones, and explore inter-cultural issues. I feel very lucky to have been able to be a part of this community.
I am sure that from my time and experience as a global learning student I have acquired the tools to continue to be a great global citizen in my own life once I am no longer a student at FIU. I am very thankful for all of the resources the Global Learning Program has offered during my time here.