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What experiences have awakened your interest and will help you contribute to and lead the Global Initiatives Program at Poly? Two experiences last year left a deep impression on me. The first one was the GIP event where we listened to the testimonies of the Uyghur people. This experience made me realize that we live in a very safe and privileged world, and it really made me want to explore other countries and cultures. While it is a very heavy topic, one that caused speakers to break down in front of the audience, I was inspired to learn more about the horrible mistreatment of Uyghurs. The second really meaningful experience was my trip to Kazakhstan. There was so much to learn and so many discoveries (big and little) throughout my short stay there. I kept comparing my world with the world I was visiting, and this comparison brought up such interesting realizations and questions. I am really inspired by the opportunity to engage with other cultures and learn from them. In what ways do you hope that the Global Scholars program will expand and deepen your global perspectives? I think that this program will allow me to learn more about other countries and different cultures. Each GIP event is an opportunity to go towards something that I don’t really know very much about–my hope is that I will take in these experiences and learn from them. I am thinking specifically of speakers that the GIP program hosts. If accepted, I will also be working on a specific topic of my own choice, which is yet another way to learn deeply and engage with respect and empathy. Finally, how do you hope to develop as a global citizen through this program? While I know that teaching others is a cornerstone of the program, I also hope to learn. I love meeting others who come from backgrounds very different from mine and connecting with them on a human level. I truly loved meeting the people in Kazakhstan. I was able to connect with the French and Italian exchange students last year, and these encounters were really enlightening–we watched each other speak, eat, joke, and thoroughly enjoyed each others’ company. I hope to become more educated about other people, but most of all, I would like to be able to build friendships through the many connections and opportunities that Poly has offered me. These small connections can become the foundation for the big changes we need in the world.