Question 1:
We are so happy that you have decided to apply to Global Encounters. What do you hope to learn from your time at Global Encounters? What do you hope to contribute to the Global Encounters community? Given your personal and academic aspirations, what would an experience like Global Encounters mean for you?
A Chance to Discover the World Out There
A famous quote states that we are passers-by on this earth and all we have to do is to discover the reason why we came here and perform our function before our time expires. Every new day is an opportunity for us to find this purpose. Unfortunately, the modern-day life has locked us into our bubbles that we forget that there is a world out there. Once this happens, we become selfish and stop trying to make the world a better place for other people. The Global Encounters Community will offer me the chance to get out of my comfort zone and discover the world out there.
Contributing to the Local Communities
I hope to interact with the local communities through engaging various projects that will assist in making life better for them. Some of the things in which I intend to participate are those involving increasing access to clean water, energy, and environmental sustainability. I will share my skills and worldview with the members of the Global Encounters community and the locals. I will be interacting with a culturally diverse people with different cultures from mine. The experience will teach me a lesson on how to live and integrate within new societies, something that I hope to use as I travel in different countries in a bid to understand the level of cultural diversity on a global scale.
A New Perspective on Life
The chance to spend time with peers in a different environment far away from home will give me a new perspective on life. It will be the first time I am spending time far away from home, meaning that I will learn to take responsibilities for others and myself as well.
Question 2: Describe an accomplishment, experience or project that has been meaningful to you and has helped you grow. In what capacity were you involved? What did you learn from your experience?
Teaching and Learning from Children
I am privileged to have had many opportunities that have built me in character and skill, contributing to who I am today. One experience stands out among others. I love spending time with children. I got a chance to do community service at a local Montessori for babies and small children, working as an assistant to their teachers. This experience helped me to distinguish spending time and playing with children from assisting them to acquire education in their comfortable environments. I witnessed their highly active intellect and curiosity that drives them to need to know everything in their environment. I ignored the power of the minds of children and their explorative nature, as do other people. I have grown listening to Hazer Imam's farmans on the importance of early childhood education. However, I never really paid much attention to this point. However, after being able to teach small children in an environment in which they were learning and growing, I truly understood why Hazar Imam's point. The mind of a child is more active at such a young age then it will ever be in their entire life. Children are capable of anything and everything, and by putting them in a place where they can discover their talents is of the utmost importance. At the end of this experience, I felt that the most rewarding feeling was being able to create a bond with them, to be able to grow and learn with them and to see how they look at you with nothing but love and happiness. The knowledge that I was helping them become the amazing human beings was something that moved me immensely. I was happy with my contributions to their lives.
Question 3: Identify a current problem that affects your local community or the world at large. Why is it important to you? Identify the steps you have taken or would take to raise awareness about this problem?
Promoting Gender Equity
The world is as diverse as it is divided. Some of the most significant problems that occur on earth are those resulting from wars from selfish, corrupt people who choose to see the world in terms of race, gender, and classism. People are discriminated against for these things, most of which are out of their control. Such divisions cause discomfort among particular communities or individuals who have to struggle for survival instead of enjoying life. Women, specifically, have been on the receiving end in the dominantly paternal world, in which the place of a woman is set to be in the home, specifically in the kitchen. The roles of women have been diminished in the society, causing them to be locked out of some careers. My focus and drive towards the emancipation of women have increased. I will be following in the steps of Mary Wollstonecraft, Malala Yousafzai, and many more admirable and strong women who have taken this matter into their own hands, working endlessly to fix the perception of women. However, the most important thing I have learned from being a girl and knowing what it is like to be thought of as inferior is that it the contribution of every woman counts. I know for a fact that when I stand up for myself and show that this demeaning stereotype is not one that holds me down, I am making a difference, along with raising support and awareness for it one person at a time. This quest will be conducted for the sake of improving the human race in that every person will get a chance to live up to their potentials. I will use any possible forum to raise the concerns regarding the significance of gender equity to the society because I believe that stronger women make a better world.
Question 4: It is often the obstacles we face in life that shape our character and view of the world. Share an experience when you were faced with a challenge or failure. How did it affect you? Reflecting back on that experience, what did you learn or what would you do differently?
The Importance of Asking for Help
The process of learning begins with the acknowledgment of the lack of knowledge. Socrates' thought that the highest realization is that of the discovery that one knows nothing. I used to be on a pedestal as a genius among my peers. This status gave me special treatment as well as societal expectations. I used to be brilliant in class and would hardly need the assistance of teachers or other classmates to acquire the concepts of solving class problems. However, all that changed in my seventh grade when my grades began declining. I had never known how to ask for help in academic matters. Therefore, I was lost for options. My confidence also dropped significantly. At this point, I almost gave up on everything. My parents and teachers met to discuss ways to make me more comfortable and to figure out a solution to the problems I had been facing. The key lay in the realization that I was not special, but an average child who needed to coexist in seeking and giving help to others. I learnt that asking for help did not mean that I was weak. Instead, it was an acknowledgment that I was ready to learn from my environment and the people around me. I accepted myself as I was and was no longer afraid to seek assistance in any issues. This attitude enabled me to stay out of trouble and solve many problems. I am glad that I was able to learn a significant lesson from that low point in my life. That challenge, among many other struggles, taught me that I am just like everyone else and that I need to put sufficient effort to achieve desired results.
