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GIP Application Essay

From a young age I have been interested in hearing different perspectives. I would always try to find the different angles each problem has. My parents taught me that every situation has more than one side and that I should always seek out those different sides before coming to a conclusion. Growing up it was this kind of thinking that led me to seeing the different perspectives in America, and ultimately abroad. I began to watch the news more often and pay particular attention to things happening in the area closer to me. Eventually that shifted to looking for news stories about places around the U.S. and finally the globe. I started to see the differences in culture and the way people lived. I also started to see the things that other people had to deal with. Whether that was hearing about issues relating to water supply in Africa, or rainforest concerns in Brazil, I began to empathize with people I had never met. One of the turning points in realizing my interest for understanding what other people go through was when a Tsunami hit Japan in 2011. I remember watching the footage as I was eating dinner and asking my parents if there was anything we could do to stop it. The same feeling I felt then was what I felt when listening to Sonia Nazario discuss the issues brought up in her book enrique's journey. Although many of the GIP Events have re-engaged my interest and passion for learning about what goes on around the world day-to-day, it was that one specifically that really got me interested in this program. I believe I will be able to contribute to this program through the perspectives. I not only enjoy researching and learning about these cultural perspectives but equally enjoy talking about them which I feel would be a great contribution. I hope that the Global Scholars Program will help expose to many more cultural perspectives than I would be able to find on my own. Along with that I hope to gain access to different methods of researching/learning about global perspectives so that I can take those skills and further my learning once I leave Poly. I also hope to gain more insight based on discussions that happen within this group. Hopefully, this program will also help me to gain a broad understanding of the different ways in which people live.

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