THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING ABROAD

Studying abroad is an opportunity that I believe will help to strengthen and build a foundation for my future endeavors. I would like to become an international pop culture writer/editor and content creator. My Haitian heritage has influenced my interest in learning and reporting about countries and cultures abroad. It has helped me redefine social norms and beauty standards for myself by challenging me to appreciate a culture other than Western culture. I struggled accepting my cultural identity because of how much I was bullied in middle school, but spending my summers in Haiti helped me to truly appreciate my history and culture. Similar to this an abroad experience in China will teach me the importance of Chinese cultural heritage, along with it will create a concrete foundation for my creative writing skills and my cultural comprehension.

I chose to study at The Beijing Center in China in part because in my intercultural communication class, the instructor designed a service learning project where I worked with Jiabian, an exchange student from Beijing, China. We met met weekly for the entire semester to improve each other’s cultural literacy. By the end of the semester, I felt I had a better understanding of China’s culture from some of the experiences Jiabin shared with me, and Jiabin felt that her English and insight on Western culture progressed, as well.