This past summer, I had the honour of attending Global Scholars in Washington D.C. at American University. The program is based around providing the knowledge and skills about international relations and allowing the students to take multiple steps into becoming the best global citizens we can be. In my case, all of these were well-achieved within 2 weeks through immersive activities, interactions with people in the field and visits to prime organisations.
Typically, a class has students seated at desks while listening to their teacher. However at Global Scholar, classes were far from this . The Action Lab - our version of a class - was greatly based around interactive discussions and activities, ranging from the origin of one’s shoe to diversity and inclusion, and was always initiated with enjoyable ice breakers. Through these activities, I - and other students - was able to gain lots of knowledge on matters I never thought of and perspectives from the diverse group of students from all walks of life.
Along with the classes, students were taken to offices of organisations key to our world’s development like the World Bank and the Aspen institute, as well as meet important figures in international relations such as the Ambassadors to the US from Niger and Tanzania. Through these visits, we were able to have one-on-one conversations with them and enhance our understanding. This proved that the program was truly international; it made the international students feel included and the others more knowledgeable.
Throughout the time, students got a taste of university life - which served as a bonus - by living in the American University’s student housing and having frequent meals at the campus cafeteria. The accommodation was adequate - with similar qualities to most summer programs - and, although the cafeteria menu was the same for lunch and dinner, there was a variety of meals to the point one could have pizza for lunch and a burger for dinner - or vice versa.
On top of that, students were deeply immersed into the DC culture. For instance, we used the city’s Metro to get around DC for visiting offices. Whenever we were downtown, we would enjoy food from numerous food trucks - from various cultures. Plus, we got to visit some of the city’s best attractions - like The Washington Monument on the 4th of July, The Smithsonian Museums of National History and Natural History, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to name a few.
However, the cherry on top of all this was visits to the senators at Capitol Hill. The final project at Global Scholars is to find an issue that you resonate with the most and advocate for it by visiting your state’s Senator’s office. Most of my group members and I - whose topics ranged from public transport to gun violence - got to meet senators, or their representatives, and gained first-hand experiences on advocacy - as well as pictures with the senators.
In terms of the people, we had great teaching staff and the interns made the program more enjoyable - since they were young adults that we could really relate to. As well as that, I made a lot of friends that I still maintain communication with and share many cherished memories with from the program - which is hands down, my favourite highlight.
All in all, one thing for sure is that the Global Scholar experience is unforgettable and one that a student should seriously consider not missing out on.