Global Perspectives
- Gold Level Experience -
I am a son to two Ugandan born parents. As a kid growing up in the states, I learned much of the American culture in the context of how my parents maneuvered through American life. My family and I moved to Uganda for the first two years of high school and I was able to witness a completely different way of life. I was able to appreciate every aspect of benefit I had and still have to this day.
My parents started an organization called “Innovative Solutions for a Better Uganda”. From a young age, they kept me involved and encouraged me to have input into how the organization could get better. A big reason why I have goals to build up infrastructure is because of the experiences I had in Uganda.
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I have also traveled the world a great deal and I have been blessed to experience a myriad of cultures. One great event I was part of was the 1st FINA Youth Programme in Doha, Qatar as a representative for Uganda. During this experience I got to meet kids about my age from all over the world who all had one thing in common: an affinity for swimming. I got to watch the world championships and even meet Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson.
Program Wide Learning objective met: Perspectivism & Realistic Vision
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My global experience helps with my perspectivism and realistic vision because I have been able to see how different people find ways to solve problems and I’ve see how people from all sorts of backgrounds converged to accomplish one common goal.
Global Perspectives Core Learning Objectives
Working With Diverse Teams: Exhibit proficiency working in or directing a team withethnic or cultural diversity.
As a student for my school and a swimmer for the junior national team, I worked with people all the time to get things done. People’s unique backgrounds helped make experiences and discussion more colorful.
Global Citizenship: Show self-awareness as “citizens of the world” as well as citizens of a particular country, and appreciation of the challenges facing mankind, such as sustainability, environmental protection, poverty, security, and public health.
I am a Ugandan American who has traveled to several parts of the globe.
Cultural Awareness: Identify the broad attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions, histories and communication styles of themselves and others and their relationship with others. Support and validate the cultural experiences of others, and incorporate multiple, potentially conflicting, perspectives into evaluative and analytical work.
The time I spent helped me learn certain social queues and cultural norms that made my communication more effective with others.
Openness to Difference: Welcome personal and cultural difference, seek to maximize the community of relevant stakeholders, and interact non-judgmentally with these
stakeholders.
Seeing different ways of thought gave me more perspective.
When I lived in Uganda for 2 years, I witnessed various types of construction when interacting with ISBU's work. I witnessed how an apartment complex would develop first from the idea of the building existing, to creating blueprints, to laying the foundation, and finalizing the structure. I learned that a fully operational building with water, electricity, and HVAC requires large investments of money, time, and intellect.
In my time interacting with ISBU, I saw that the key to vitalizing infrastructure was the vision to see a piece of land as what it could be, not what it was. In development, there are always setbacks but staying focused on the end product can help get through the challenges along the way. In the future, I plan to use these principles in whatever I work on. When there is vision, solutions can be made to get to the desired outcome.