Reflections on My Time in a Global Community

As my fellow students and I departed from Yale Young Global Scholars (YYGS) two days ago, I thought I should reflect on my immersion in such a global community. This program, which happens to share part of its name with the Global Scholars program at Poly in which I am currently enrolled, brings students from around the world to participate in intensive academic dialogue and research projects pertaining to a particular field or subject matter. 
I was a student in the Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship session, during which I engaged with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, theories of post-colonialism, the implications of expansion and global outreach, and the ethics of international community-building. I deeply appreciated the material that my peers and I covered in lectures, seminars, and capstone projects, but I think the defining characteristic of YYGS—the remarkably international composition of its student body—is what I should discuss here.
At the opening keynote lecture, the director of the program repeatedly emphasized the global nature of YYGS as foundational for the work we would do for the two weeks we were there. Indeed, the ideas and topics in the program themselves were not unique to the program, but it is rare to be able to discuss, as a student in and from America, the tensions along the India-Pakistan border, for example, with citizens from either nation. In my case, I was able to do just that; I had roommates from both countries as well as from Zimbabwe and China. Across the hall were students from Nepal and Canada and, in the floors above and below me, Nigeria, South Korea, Brazil, Italy and the Philippines.
Though we would often talk about the things in which we all had a common interest, like sports or geopolitics or national development, we more frequently fell into discussion about the very essence of our respective countries. Differences were more easily highlighted, but commonalities were also evident. The ongoing trade talks between the United States and China proved a worthwhile subject as both citizens of the two nations and onlookers from other countries could comment. Students from countries that have established ties with China through its One Belt One Road initiative, like Ethiopia and Pakistan, offered novel perspectives on China’s growing global presence. Students from Hong Kong often had disparate impressions of the role and impact of the Chinese federal government from their peers who live in mainland China. During the first Democratic primary debates, I could offer insights into and describe the backdrop for American politics, things that might have gone unnoticed had I not been watching along with them. The organic result of operating in a global community like YYGS is the acquiring of knowledge that would be intrinsically inaccessible outside of such an environment. A certain give-and-take was constantly happening before my eyes, an exchange for which I am immensely grateful and after which I will never be the same.

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