It’s an spectacular autumn day in South Florida, 74º degrees, sunny with a cool breeze and barely any humidity. I’m on campus sitting on one of the outdoor rocking tables after taking a microeconomics exam. I’m looking around, watching students and faculty walk by, and thinking about how much I’m going to miss the open, innovative and intellectual environment fostered at FIU. 

Looking back at my first year of undergrad, I realize that my world view and understanding has slowly but steadily broaden and I’ve learned to make use of the tools at my disposal in order to successfully conduct research and plan strategically.

The Excellence in Global Learning program (EGL) has enhanced my global awareness, perspective, and engagement through participative events, study abroad, global learning courses and an internship at an international organization, all of which are requirements to finish the program. 

For starters, the program requires its candidates to attend various global events. Participating in school events has been one of my favorite experiences at school and I consider myself extremely fortunate for it. 

 

I’ve participated in over 40 events ranging on various global topics, some of my favorite have been: 

 

A discussion on globalization, led by Lech Walesa, first President of Poland after the fall of the Soviet Union, and leader of the Solidarity movement that preluded the fall of communist regimes in Europe. 

A panel on Brexit and its consequences, that took place just a couple days after the infamous referendum and was led by the British Consul General in Miami and by three FIU PhD experts on the fields of Economics, History, and Europe respectively. 

A lecture on the state of U.S Diplomacy in the 21st century, led by the Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, Ambassador Gentry O. Smith. 

A lecture on the Geopolitics of the Middle East after the Iran Nuclear deal, led by Dr. Trita Parsi from the Iranian American Council.

A Panel Discussion of State in Interference in News in Latin America, led by a group of lawyers representing 7 of the 11 major newspapers in Latin America.

A conversation on Cybersecurity, led by Shamoil T. Shipchandler, Fort Worth Regional Director of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

A panel on how to feel secure and live a healthy stable life while “Living in an Age of Uncertainty”, led by FIU faculty experts in the fields of sociology, security, international relations, study abroad, psychology and crisis management.

A panel discussion on The EU, Eastern Europe and Russia, with FIU faculty experts and Mark Medish, former Director on Russian and Eurasian affairs of the National Security Council.

 

Through the aforementioned and many more of the events I’ve had the chance to participate I was able to learn from experts, asks questions and develop my learning and reasoning aptitudes. The events gave me an inside view into what goes on, in making decisions when in positions of leadership, what factors have to be considered when analyzing a particular issue or the context of different regions in the world and how that affects the views or politics of their leaders and citizens. I also realized how much of our opinions are often based on where we reside, and the access to information we possess. FIU has consistently amazed me with the high profile industry, political and academia experts that are available to us on a weekly basis; participatory events have been one of the great joys of my time as a student, greatly improving my global perspective and awareness. Some of the events I’ve attended by myself but many of them I’ve attended with school friends and my younger sister, allowing me to grow my communication and interpersonal interaction skills as we continued the conversation far after the event was over. 

As I discussed on a blog post, during my last semester at FIU, I interned at the International Rescue Committee. Perhaps what I find to be one of the biggest aftereffects of being a candidate in the EGL program is how the “requirements” are designed to awaken our self-awareness and development, strengthen our feeling of civic responsibility, and nurture our strategic planning dexterity. I find myself more engaged in my community than I ever was before I started the program, and I’ve learned to take responsibility for one’s personal behavior and the importance of leading by example.  I became a volunteer during the 2016 elections, making sure that traditionally marginalized communities get involved in the system and have a chance to be heard and voice their struggles. During summer 2016, I spent two months in Europe (Sweden, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Spain) I had the chance to meet many globally involved individuals, working for the government, the private sector or NGO’s and discovered how much had my communication skills had improved when I was able to discuss U.S global engagement with many europeans and successfully show them how much good has come from U.S engagement abroad and how most of the global challenges require a multi-lateral approach and the U.S can’t be expected to carry all the burden.  

Now that my time as an undergraduate student has come to an end, I can wholeheartedly say that it has been better than I ever dreamed of, not only have I partaken in a great range of entertaining and didactic life-changing experiences but I leave college with a robust set of skills and feel ready to face whatever challenges I encounter the rest of my life.