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DISCOVERING THE EXCELLENCE WITHIN: REALIZING MY GREATNESS IN SOUTH AFRICA
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| By Jorian Reeves, Xavier University, Louisiana's College of Pharmacy |
Nationwide -- I had my first taste of global cultural learning in
2015 when I traveled to Qatar at the age of 14 for a week-long Arabic
debate competition. Two years earlier, in seventh grade, I had started
taking Arabic classes at Lindbolm Math and Science Academy, a selective
high school serving gifted and marginalized students in Chicago.
Until I became a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow and studied in South Africa last summer, the Qatar trip had been my most extensive abroad experience. But what transpired during the summer of 2018 in South Africa, made me realize that was only the beginning of my personal development.
When I started at Lindbolm Academy as a seventh grader, I experienced a challenging environment, something more dynamic than anything I had experienced before. I relished in the opportunity to engage with a new culture through my Arabic language and dance courses because it provided an outlet for some of my feelings of displacement.
I felt lost and uncomfortable in my new environment. I was forced to push the boundaries to which I had grown accustomed, and at times, I struggled with the changes.
Until I became a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow and studied in South Africa last summer, the Qatar trip had been my most extensive abroad experience. But what transpired during the summer of 2018 in South Africa, made me realize that was only the beginning of my personal development.
When I started at Lindbolm Academy as a seventh grader, I experienced a challenging environment, something more dynamic than anything I had experienced before. I relished in the opportunity to engage with a new culture through my Arabic language and dance courses because it provided an outlet for some of my feelings of displacement.
I felt lost and uncomfortable in my new environment. I was forced to push the boundaries to which I had grown accustomed, and at times, I struggled with the changes.
