Travel as a Connection to Cultural Appreciation
To demonstrate my commitment to the honors college learning outcome of interpersonal and intercultural understanding I have elected to showcase my time abroad this past summer. My study abroad trip took place in Florence, Italy, where I learned about Art History and Photography. During my time there I was able to live in an apartment in the Piazza De Duomo, learn from professors of different nationalities, and experience everything Florence has to offer from a local perspective. However, my experiences while traveling abroad also taught me a deeper understanding for the perspectives and values of others. Through my four weeks in Italy, I met the honors college learning outcome to describe and compare my own cultural values, biases, and perspectives with those important to others to evaluate local, national, and global issues from multiple cultures and worldviews. This is important culturally, as in an ever-changing world learning to handle situations with empathy has become an increasing valuable skill. However, this also affects my professional work by allowing me to explore more options I might not have initially considered and put myself in the shoes of my audience.
Classes like my photography course which was taught by a professor from Spain allowed me to challenge my own cultural biases and explore how perspectives of others differ from my own. For example, she was interested to hear how maternity leave works for those of us in the United States. This sparked a much larger conversation in which both parties were able to learn from each other’s lived experiences. In a similar experience, I had a conversation with the owner of my favorite sandwich shop who gave me his insight on food quality and business management in the states. As one would expect the communication of our different experiences allowed us to both take away a perspective that is difficult to gain in another manner.
Through my time abroad I was able to gain a new perspective on worldwide issues and cultural ideas. My conversations with individuals of other nationalities allowed me to grow my catalog of experiences to pull from when faced with a problem to solve. This affects my professional work as it allows me to understand multiple audiences and the different cultural lenses that they may be viewing my work through. In the future I strive to expand my library of experiences and perspectives. Whether that be through another experience abroad or simply seeking to better understand individuals I interact with on the daily who are different from me.