Photo from Shanghai from 3 years ago This week I talked to a classmate about our experiences in China, and it dawned on me how much I miss the rest of the world. It feels like this school year, despite mostly being back in person at school and returning little by little to how life was before COVID, I've lost my connection to what's beyond LA, CA, and the US. I still get the same news and take globally-minded courses, but I can't bring myself back to the otherworldly experiences I've had elsewhere.
Being so tired going through my routine and having so much angst at the end of my high school years is certainly not just my experience, but I think it really has contributed to me forgetting just how expansive the rest of the world is. I watch these TV shows, eat my food (which is international, just it's a lot of the same), and generally go through my LA motions, but I have lost the spuriousness that I've only felt elsewhere. Without actually visiting anywhere or interacting with non-US citizens much, my mindset feels shrinking, and I care so much less about the little details around me. Maybe I've sacrificed paying so much attention and a little of my ability to learn to care much less. I've been blessed with so many great unique experiences, but I am only focused on my daily getting lunch and other monotonous activities. With my sense as it is, I can't break out right now: I'm inhibited by everything I can't have yet, so I am ever hopeful for what's ahead, but I feel like I've been in this period of transition for so long. Traveling has given me the option to take glimpses into the dynamic-ness of life, and right now, I want that option back. Having a global sense is more than experience. It's the quality of seeing the other options when you're would just be going through the motions.
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Yesterday I attended the first-in-two-year in-person Global Scholars event, which featured three women representing the organization Narrative 4 (N4). N4 is a global network of educators, students, and artists who use art and storytelling to build empathy between students while equipping them to improve their communities and the world. It organizes events called story exchanges, which are set between at least two but often more communities to connect with a strategy called empathy into action. Our event was not a story exchange but an introduction to the organization because they want to partner with our school and expand more in our region. The three presenters were the head of N4 in the Midwest, a teacher from Mexico, and a woman from South Africa who was a long-time participant with N4. Each of them was very engaging and really enforced the reputation N4 deserves, which is that it has caused a lot of visible change and has been very helpful for a lot of people. The South African woman, who was not much older than me and my classmates, was especially captivating as she spoke about how she had gone into her community with new lenses from story exchanges and had really branched out in the world with N4's cross cultured-ness. She had even started to go after social change in SA through avenues like a poem she shared which was brilliant. Having been in a story exchange myself, I can attest that they are very useful for anyone trying to find new ideas in the world, and I came away from mine with new trains of thought. After an experience with N4, really the next step is traveling, and because of how inaccessible that is, N4 is perfect for expanding horizons naturally and uniquely without such a heavy burden (often none at all for participants). The presenters made it a point to say how important it was to them that the empathy conveyed during their events did not stop then and how invested they were in creating action to help their participants help people and the world. |
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May 2022
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