Reflection

My college experience at Florida International University has provided me with numerous opportunities and involvement to cultivate my global perspective, awareness and engagement. Attending a culturally diverse university challenged my perceived notion of what it means to be a global citizen. Eager to embark on the quest of cultural competency I enrolled into an intercultural communication course. A required assignment for this course entailed sharing an experience with someone whose social practices differs from oneself. My shared experience consisted of me enjoying a delicious traditional Nicaraguan dinner with a classmate and her family at their home. This experienced allowed me to directly apply my classroom knowledge while improving my sense of cultural awareness and interaction.

Greatly developing a profound love for cultures inspired me to further my quest internationally. Participating in a global health study abroad in Mysore, India, the summer preceding my senior year expanded upon prior intercultural communication knowledge. When engaging with the natives I took notice of a prevalent nonverbal communicative gesture – head shake. Slight variations in this gesture revealed whether the individual agrees or disagrees. Studying abroad in India heightened my global awareness and engagement. Our daily class lectures consisted of an open discussion with a panel of prominent members within India. Topics which were discussed included patriarchy, healthcare disparity, hunger, poverty and wealth inequality. A distinct commonality among the topics discussed is that they are all found on a global spectrum, no one topic is unique to India.

Empowered with my new sense of global awareness and engagement I actively sought out on campus global involvements. The following fall semester I became involved in GlobeMed and Oxfam. The mission of GlobeMed is to strengthen the movement for global health equity by empowering students and communities to work together to improve the health of people living in poverty around the world. Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty. What I enjoyed from both clubs was the ability to engage locally impacting the lives of community members.

My journey of the embodiment of a global citizen has taken me from the classroom to India to my local community. With so much momentum the journey is far from arrival. My plans for once I graduate from Florida International University involves me pursuing a medical degree and providing basic healthcare necessities to the underserved.