On my own, I do not think that I actively seek out opportunities to interact with culturally different others, it has always been a teacher pushing me to gain more insight on the global citizenship competency for the Honors Program. However, I recently have gained a higher motivation to seek our multicultural individuals due to one question I asked someone, “Why do you think that Americans try and make everyone just like them? Why aren’t we open to being more culturally diverse?” The answer given really stirred something inside me. The answer, “Because you guys speak English, it’s already an advantage. You don’t have to learn a second language and make the effort, because you already know the one that’s globally required to succeed in international career fields. I only learned English because I had to, not because I wanted to. It doesn’t push you to travel abroad; why would you travel to different countries if they (international students and immigrants) are already coming here. It’s easier not do it and remain complacent.” Although I was unable to travel abroad or continue taking second language courses, in the Fall of 2016, a Honors Seminar was offered on second language learning. Throughout the class we had various assignments to study differences between first and second language learning, how different cultures clash and interact, and eventually create a case study based on our research in the class. I hoped that by taking this class I would be able to reach level four in the global citizenship competency.
Almost every week, we had a reading report assignment on a different language topic ranging from language acquisition in children to how language and power were intrinsically tied together. Every report had to include five key concepts that you felt were important that had to be explained in your own words, experiences and connections to other readings. The most important aspect of the assignment was to gain knowledge and understanding of language, but also learn how to ask complex questions revolving around others cultures. I realized at first my questions were very biased towards English being the best language to learn and I had to learn to gear my questions towards being more inclusive of all cultures.
The overall point of the reading reports was to pick a narrow topic to research and write a case study on. I chose to research and reflect upon why I think everyone should strive to be a global citizen. I will admit that I thought American culture was the only normal culture in the world, which is very untrue. I wish I understood what is like to be unprivileged, but without experiencing it myself, I don’t think I can. I prepared complex questions revolving around language and culture, but I feel I focused too much on how it related to American culture, such as questions like “Were you ever worried you would become to American, why do think Americans think their culture is the best, etc.” I realized as I asked those questions that I was assuming that the person agreed already with question that I had. The individual I interviewed for my case study gladly answered my questions, but I realized that being worried about becoming American is probably something no international student thinks
Another aspect of the class to develop our cultural awareness skills was to actively volunteer for at least 10 hours over the semester, tutoring in an ESL setting on or off campus. I chose the Intensive English Program (IEP), formally known as the IELI program, to complete my hours. I had worked through this program before and enjoyed interacting with the students. This assignment helped me gain experience not only how to interact with other cultures, but also how second language learning is different for every individual. I struggle with learning ASL as my second language because it is hard to continuously use it. I could not imagine trying to go to another country and communicate on a college level with other students and professors. Another interesting aspect I learned was how different the cultures of my language partners were and how they communicated with family back home. One student from Japan rarely spoke with his family and it was a very formal type of communication, they told him he could choose what he wanted to do with his life, a more idealistic communication style like my own. Whereas the other student from Vietnam was in America studying because her parents were forcing her to do it, although she was not nearly as interested in studying here as they wanted her to be.
Through these language partners and other international students I have spoken with, learning English is a must to be a more successful person, something I had never realized before. Education was extremely important and not something took for granted in most other countries as it seems to be in the US. My parents don’t know that I took ASL or they probably would have advised against it, saying I would never use it. However, without attempting to learn a second language and communicate using it, I do not think that I could understand the some of the struggles my language partners went through. The journals I created from my language partner interaction show the growth both of us had over the semester creating a connection between one another.
Also throughout the semester, we had a book club series for “The Spirit Catches the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”. The book revolved around a Hmong couple whom had sought refuge in the California and their youngest daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy. The storyline interweaved history of the Hmong people, the trials the family went though, and the struggles the medical team treating Lia (the epileptic child) experienced with cross cultural communication. The story made me often pause and think as a future health care professional how I would handle the situation myself. Would I try to learn more about the culture, or would I just put my knowledge and education above my patient’s religious beliefs. Trying to decide who was right in certain situations, like when the doctors had Lia removed from her home so they could enforce the correct medication for her, was tricky as both sides of the story felt right. It taught me there is always two sides to a story, and that just because you are a well-educated American, doesn’t mean you are right.
To round off the class, I had to complete a self-assessment of how I thought I improved my global citizenship competency over the course of the semester. This helped reflect on what I had learned and what I could still improve on. By doing this assignment it opened my eyes to how much I had grown when comparing it to the start of the year, in which we had also assessed where we thought we fell on the rubric. When comparing the questions from my reading report from the first week to the last one, and to how I synthesized my self-assessment from day one till now is where the growth is shown the best. I hope to continue to improve upon all of the competencies, but especially in the area of communication. To further this competency, I would like to start an initiative for international students to tell others why they truly chose to come to America. There are a lot of people in the US who believe that all immigrants should conform to the American way of life, that America is the best place to be and anywhere else in the world is a poor place to live. I would like to ask international students or immigrants to write letters to Americans about why they chose to come here to close some of the gap between the cultures. Some may have come to escape their own country, but others came not because they didn’t like their home life, but just to experience a new culture. It may open some people’s lives about what the rest of the world is like through someone else’s eyes, including my own.