Goal Statement

"Think about your own ethnicity and heritage and what special reasons you may have to study abroad. Write at least two paragraphs outlining how you want your study abroad experience to personally affect you in terms of personal growth, global awareness, and diversity."

 

            While I don’t really have any ethnic or heritage-related reasons to study abroad in Senegal (I’m mostly German), I am interested to see how being an American female affects my experience abroad. I am in the Women’s Leadership Academy at Alfred University, and I feel that this opportunity is a great honor for me; not every woman has the means of traveling to another country. I think it’s important for me, as a woman, to see how different cultures view women in the society and how they view American women differently than they do Senegalese women.

            While being a woman will definitely affect my experience abroad, this is not one of the main reasons I’m going. My main goal is for this experience to change the way I view the world around me and the way I go about my life. I don’t want to live my life in only one way of seeing (Western views), but instead I intend to broaden my horizons and see how people in a completely different culture see things and how they live their lives. For one example, I always find myself very nervous about being on time, and I think that’s a product of my Western upbringing; In Senegal, greeting the people you know and showing appreciation for the relationships in your life is much more important than being on time. I want to see what parts of me are moldable and I want to challenge myself to change, something to which I’m not accustomed.

            In terms of global awareness, I think this experience will be very helpful and that it is definitely needed in my life. Though I’ve traveled abroad before, I really feel ignorant to what’s going on in the rest of the world. I feel like living in a country other than my own for an extended period of time will give me a new way of viewing the world in general, and will be beneficial in more ways than I can imagine at this point. My goal is, from this experience, to gain knowledge of how other countries view the United States, and to think about correcting or altering my views of other countries. I'd also like to learn the Senegalese peoples' views on some things that are going on around the world to compare to the information and publicity certain events get in the U.S.

In regards to diversity, my experience in Senegal will have me as the minority, which I’m surely not used to. I will be able to experience the feeling of being different and singled out, which I feel is a very important standpoint to have at some point in everyone’s life. My goal is to learn as much about the culture as I can, and to appreciate sharing my culture with others. 

            Overall, I feel that getting away from my comfort zone will be difficult, but will develop me personally in many ways. My views will be broadened, my perspective may be altered, and my familiar place in society will be challenged. I want these changes to happen so I know I’m not being prejudiced or closed-minded, so I know my views are supported and have roots in my experiences, and so I can more easily see from diverse others’ perspectives when I’m facing challenges.