Global Engagement

Short Essay 1: Foreign Language Proficiency

Write a brief essay describing at least two instances in your global learning experiences where you
relied on your foreign language proficiency.
"The best way to learn a second language is to surround yourself in the culture and with native
speakers." After taking two years of Spanish in high school and traveling to China and parts of
Europe, this phrase could not ring truer. By studying abroad one is able to become fully immersed
in a different culture, changing the learning setting from the classroom to a real world experience.
The program that I traveled to China with was a general studies program with no emphases on
language skills. Apart from a packet with key phrases and terms, pre-departure language
preparation was minimal. After traveling to Europe the following summer with similar language
skills or lack thereof, it was clear that there was a unique contrast between the two experience, how
I adapted in country, and what I gained from each in the way of cross cultural communication and
understanding language.
The main observation is that in Europe it is very easy to get around, no need to learn any kind of
"survival terms" aside from being polite, because most everyone speaks English. This is not the
case in China, where the words "survival term" mean just that. In China it becomes necessary to
learn at least some simple words and phrases to get around and to feel engaged with the people
around you. The advantage of having to learn to speak another language out of necessity to get
around allows one to feel more connected to the people and the culture in a more personal way.
Whereas being able to operate easily abroad using my native language might be effective,
communication between people is more fluid, but in comparison, culturally, there is something
missing.
First arriving in China you can feel, see, and hear the difference in culture immediately. It was very
interesting to undergo the evolution of become accustomed to being in such a different
environment from my own as time passed while in China. Going from having absolutely no
understanding of the language at the beginning of the trip to by the end having several scenarios in
which communication was fluid and understanding was perfect though at a very basic level.
For example, towards the end of the trip in China while traveling from Zhengzhou to Shanghai I was
buying a newspaper from a stand and no words were exchanged. The lady working held out her
pointer finger and her thumb, without having to look at the price, without having to poorly ask
"how much", I immediately knew to give her eight yuan. There was no confusion lost between
cultures, just complete understanding, a normal everyday transaction. A simple gesture, but
something that I had learned and would have been unaware of if not needing to knew out of
necessity.
Finally on the last morning before leaving for the airport I had my most fluent conversation in
Mandarin to date. Again with a newsstand worker, as I was looking for a magazine this gentleman
said in an inquisitive manner, "Fa Guo." I replied "Bu. Mei Guo." or "French?" "No, American." Just a

simple exchange but one that I would not have been able to have had while in Europe, not in
another language.
This in my opinion has been one of the most memorable moments of traveling, going into another
culture with very little language skills to communicate and still being able to make serious
connections with people almost more so than in place where English is more widely spoken.
Finally this past summer I traveled to both Japan and Korea with students who were studying one
or the another language, which has been completely different from the other two programs that I
was in. For me this raised the initial travel anxiety before leaving thinking that I'd be at some kind
of disadvantage. However after having been through the same ambiguous situations in other
countries I found that I functioned quite well in ambiguity and even with no language skills had a
better sense of "comfortability" in uncertain situations than that of students of the host language.
This expertise in navigating without language was able to be showed cased when traveling from
Japan to Korea where the majority of students found themselves in the same shoes as myself, not
able to speak or understand the native countries language. Seeing the panic and freight on students
faces who have never been completely unable to communicate with other people gave me
reassurance that I have indeed successfully gain skills in being able to comfortably and easily
navigate myself, and others through places and cultures where I do not speak or understand the
language.
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Short Essay 2: International Community Engagement

Write a brief essay describing in detail your participation in an international community
engagement or service activity. Describe your role, the type of engagement, any obstacles you
encountered, and any lessons you learned.
Intercultural Community Engagement
In order to get the Service Learning Scholarship one must participate in a Service Learning Project,
most of which are built into the study abroad programs themselves. This ensures that there is
indeed intercultural community engagement and cross cultural communication happening while
abroad; because it is this cross cultural awareness that makes these programs valuable for
everyone involved. Each project is different from the last, engaging different portions of society in
different ways, and like most everything else, it depends on the individual as to "how much" one
gains from the experience.
While studying Geography in China back in the summer of 2014 my group participated in a "fun day
festival" at a local kindergarten in our host city of Zhengzhou; where we observed, participated in,
and helped organize a "talent show like" event. However despite our full immersion and
participation at the event I feel as if the main purpose of the entire project and day was actually to
introduce us to the opportunities of teaching abroad in China in the future.
However, as another form of service and engagement that we all underwent was an entire day
spent with a Chinese family. We were to spend the day with a family and to experience what

everyday life for a Chinese family was like, how and where they lived, traveled, ate, interacted. One
setback or situation created by miscommunication was the purpose of the this day trip altogether,
to see a Chinese families home and how they live. Each group had a different experience, to be
expected, this can reflect the diversity found amongst families all over the world. However, the
existent to which they were different was quite a bit. For example my family only consisted of a
young daughter and father, the mother was out of town for work. My "sister", myself and another
group member were dropped off at a museum and park which we had previously visited, followed
by a large high end shopping mall, dinner at a Japanese restaurant and then back to our dorms.
This is contrasted by others experiences of meeting entire extended families, visiting apartment
homes, and cooking traditional meals with the host families. What I did take away and enjoy from
this part of the engagement was that as compared to the kindergarten class, it felt like spending the
day on an individual level was more rewarding more my "sister" than it was for all of the young
students.
Apart from these two planned projects of community service the most effective way of community
engagement that was demonstrated during this China trip was the actually living environment.
This is where we spent two weeks living on a college campus in Zhengzhou. Being on campus with
students our age for that period of time really allowed for an exchange of ideas and for friendships,
bonds, and for understanding to be created.
This type of engagement mirrors the two of the projects that were a part of my Japan and Korea
study abroad this past summer, 2016. For this trip we were required to put together a presentation
presenting our school and our program to other students at sister universities in both Japan and
Korea looking to come and study at KSU. We spent the entire day on these campuses going on
tours, experiencing class, and cafeterias; interacting and engaging with students the entire time.
Compare this experience of on campus interaction to the two week experience in China one can
really get an appreciation for the friendships made and perspectives changed in such a period of
time.
The most rewarding experience in terms of global community service came on my most recent trip
to Korea where we spent an entire morning at an immigrant center in the middle of Seoul. Here we
cleaned, prepared, served, and disposed of lunch for the entire shelter. This experience felt like the
"traditional" form of community service, however in my opinion had a very interesting global
dynamic to the entire action. This entire project was a practice in globalization. Here are people
from one part of the world, the US, helping to serve people in another part of the world, Korea, that
are from a different part of the world, anywhere other than the US and Korea.
Finally the most challenging service learning project that i have participated in over the years took
place while in Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands on a study abroad in the summer of 2015. This
project required more time an effort to be dedicated to it that the others, thus making it more
challenging but still equally as rewarding. Throughout the different countries and cities that we
traveled to during this trip we were required to collect data by handing out surveys to people in
public places. This survey was intended to gage people's attitudes and understanding the natural
world and our place within it. When traveling in a big group for school it is often easy to fall into a
comfort zone within and as a group sometimes taking away from the interactions between yourself

and the host country and culture. So by forcing us students to confront people outside of our group
really made for some exciting interactions and experiences.
Each projection and planned community service is created with the same intention, to facilitate and
spread the interaction between two cultures in the hope of gaining new perspectives and
enlightening insights. The ways in which these interactions are carried out vary from case to case,
But the most important thing that I have learned from participating in severally different
community engagement projects is that often times it is outside of these projects, i.e. individual
interactions with people, that make the true difference in engaging and understanding different
peoples and cultures.
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Short Essay 3: Cross-Cultural Awareness

Write a brief essay describing what you have learned about your own culture in relation to other
cultures. Describe the similarities and differences you have observed between your native culture
and at least one other culture. Potential examples include different or similar group dynamics,
rituals, gender roles, and work habits.
Cross Cultural Awareness
One important affirmation or realization that I have come to understand over the years throughout
my studies and travels is that all of our lives and cultures are riddled in paradox. The peoples and
cultures of Earth are characterized by vastly different aspects and dimensions created by
geography and history giving them each their own context in which they have evolved, hence the
diversity across people and places that exists. Nothing makes these differences more
comprehendible and personal than traveling, living, studying and interacting with different peoples
and within different cultures. However through this cross-culture interaction and immersion
something else becomes apparently clear, that I believe I inherently knew already, which was the
unmistakable similarities between all people regardless of culture. Therefore the paradox lies at
the very core of our individualistic and collective lives; the fact that we are all the same, yet
contrasted by extraordinarily complex diversity.
Another important realizations that has occurred through experiential global learning, which again
could be characterized as an affirmation, has been the mirror effect looking back at my own country
and culture from a distance giving my opinions more of a holistic and globally contextual view
point. With that being said, after traveling to several different countries in both Europe and Asia, I
have found myself to have been underwhelmed when adjusting to cultural differences and norms
in these countries.
The idea that the United States is a "melting pot of different peoples and cultures" can sometimes be
thoughts of as just that, an idea, when one is kept within the cultural bubble of their own native
country. However being able to observe my own country outside of that "cultural bubble" has given
those words justified meaning. For me these thoughts and observations can be summed up with
two examples that I have experienced on all three of my different study abroads. First is the mere
fact of this feeling of being underwhelmed or well-prepared to accept, adjust, and live within a

different culture. I attribute this feeling of comfortability within another place and culture to the
amount of diversity and acceptance that can be found in the United States. This idea of diversity
that prepares one for international travel can also be reflected by the ethnic diversity that has made
up each one of my study abroad program groups.
To conclude I would like to revisit the idea of similarities of everyday life and how those can all be
characterized by vastly different ways. An example that I would like to draw from which is one that
can be observed of all cultures is the importance emphasized on food. Every culture, everyday, the
people living within are connected and brought together by and through food. However, this
common ground of "the meal" varies so much from culture to culture and place to place. Asian
cultures place more importance on the holistic, health and healing properties of food and meals,
whereas in the United States this idea associated towards food does not exist in a cultural context
but more on a individual basis; which also speaks to the difference in cultures as a whole when
comparing collective and individualistic societies.
So the importance of cross cultural awareness is the awareness. One must recognize the
differences and similarities between people in a world that is getting smaller due to globalization in
order to better understand one another; and by experiencing another culture first hand while
breaking out of the cultural bubble that one lives beneath is best way to recognize, understand and
accept these contrasts.
(No response)

Short Essay 4: Future Impact

Write a brief essay describing how your global learning experiences have influenced your career
goals, or your understanding of your major area of study. How will these experiences affect your
future personal and professional growth?
Future Impacts
Majoring in Integrative Studies has given me the opportunity, through thoughtful cross curriculum
course selection, to explore my passions and interests directed towards: food systems, natural
systems,
culture, urbanization, globalization, sustainability and the coupling of these topics. Designing my
own
degree plan has allowed me to combine classes from several disciplines, including Geography and
Culinary Sustainability & Hospitality, Leadership and Asian Studies; as well as being able to take
part in
three separate study abroad experiences.
My main focus in study and travel has been to try and understand the interconnectivity between
natural systems, food, people and the environment. The goal has been to gain an all encompassing
perspective by studying and observing everyday life and the processes of production, consumption

and disposal in a global, interdependent and ecological context in order to make informed ethical
decisions in the future about how to manage our lives, the environment, and its resources.
Upon returning home in the summer of 2014 from a program in China for twenty-eight days I
almost immediately declared my minor in Asian Studies. This was done for several reasons: 1) it
would not affect my graduation time, 2) it open the door for more study abroad and travel
opportunities both during and after college, 3) and most importantly I fell in love with Asian
culture and began to see aligning similarities and the relevance between my passions for
sustainable, natural, food systems and the meeting of the ever expanding urbanized, global and
modern world with the contextually traditional and rural lifestyles that have existed for much
longer.
One lesson that I had learned from my experience traveling in China that I had capitalized on the
following year was the opportunity to continue my travels abroad after the program had finished.
Therefore in the summer of 2015 after my Geography of Beer program ended in Amsterdam; I
traveled independently to rural Wales in the United Kingdom to participate in a two-week
sustainable lifestyle Permaculture Design Course. This is where I was able to break away from the
traditional study abroad living conditions, where I was living and traveling with people from the
same culture, and became fully immersed in lifestyles and cultures much different from my own.
For me, I have gained the most confidence in life through experiential learning. Until I have
personally learned through observation and experience I feel as if my knowledge is only half
complete. Therefore with my minor in Asian Studies I truly feel that my global learning experiences
have given it legitimate worth in real world application and understanding. Through participation
with study abroad programs at KSU I have been able to travel to the three largest global economies
in East Asia: China, Japan and Korea making observations, experiencing other culture first hand,
and learning how to accept and adapt to other cultures and lifestyles.
After graduation joining the Peace Corps has always been a goal, and over time this idea has
become reinforced in my mind as my education, skills, goals for the future and perspective of the
world have become more aligned with the mission and goals of the Peace Corps. It is because of my
global learning experiences that I feel confident that I have gained the appropriate knowledge and
experience that makes me qualified to promote, educate and participate in activities to help
improve and enhance the land, environment and the lives of others.
(No response)

Almost Done!

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hope to see you at the ceremony!