A Leadership Program for Duke Students with A Global Mindset

Leadership Track – Intercultural Reflection

This past semester, the leadership track of the Global Fellows program has reinforced the iterative nature of intercultural reflection. At the start of this academic school year, I focused on two primary goals – self improvement and community impact. This reflection addresses the work I’ve done and how I’ve achieved these goals. 

 

Community Impact: 

Unpredictable is merely one of the many adjectives describing the events that took place during each program. During our first event, we not only caught the attention of over 40 attendees, but also a bird that temporarily joined our company before being rescued and released. This event brought together students of a diverse background over a shared meal and intense competition of trivia. The smiles I saw that night were plentiful and the relationships I saw form were heartwarming. We also sponsored a movie night to once again strengthen the community within the international/graduate student demographic. This was accomplished as a team effort that allowed the distributed load of responsibilities to be evenly dispersed throughout each member. 

Self Improvement:

As much fun as it was organizing and taking part in the community events over the semester, I believe the leadership development training was just as impactful. Our mentors, Ling and Hal provided us with insightful resources and facilitated healthy conversations that allowed for growth. These skills were highly applicable as I was able to bring our conversations into new settings including clubs. Duke Engineers for International Development and my role as a Project manager is a prime example of this. Many ethical questions regarding the nature of foreign aid often come to play when considering the impact of our projects on a community. However, I was equipped with training sessions ideas and potential discussion questions after each Global Fellows meeting that prepared me to facilitate a safe and informative space. I believe this two step process of learning and applying strengthened my own understanding and reflected the self improvement I achieved over the semester. 

Overall, I want to express my gratitude towards Ling, Hal, and everyone who contributed to this program. I’m excited to continue on the Language Track and for what this semester has in store.

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Intercultural Reflection – F21 Leadership Track

1 Comment

  1. Ling Jin

    Thanks, Ezra, for your reflections and kind words! I look forward to seeing your intercultural growth this semester!

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