Graduation with Leadership Distinction
Graduation with Leadership Distinction in Global Learning helps you make meaningful connections between learning within the classroom and your experiences studying abroad.
​
Completing the Global Learning pathway will help you explore the significance of your study abroad experience through ideas of multiculturalism, diversity, cultural awareness, and globalization. The Global Learning pathway emphasizes the personal, educational, and professional development that occurs from learning in/about another culture. It also pushes you to apply your learning toward interacting and solving problems in the real world. To receive Leadership Distinction in Global Learning, you must complete the appropriate pathway requirements for the degree level you are pursuing.
About Kelly Ann
I am a senior at the University of South Carolina majoring in multimedia journalism with a minor in international studies. I am graduating in May 2019 with leadership distinction in the global pathway. My friends always remind me of my most annoying quality, that I am very passionate about journalism. I frequently discuss the issue of fake news and how I believe in unbiased reporting. Honest communication is an important quality for something to work successfully and without it, the end product is not the best it can be.
Through the university’s study abroad program, I saw first-hand how important communication is when trying to accomplish a common goal. By studying abroad in Ireland, I assumed that I wouldn’t learn much because it’s an english speaking country. While there was no language barrier there was still a difference in communication methods. I also learned that there are different ways of communicating depending on the person’s culture.
I have applied these skills at USC by participating in the International Students Association and in Student Gamecock Television (SGTV). Being in these organizations showed me the effect successful communication can have and how the lack thereof can hinder the organization and the relationships within it.
​
I plan on utilizing this knowledge by being an international correspondent or producer later on in my career.
Key Insight 1
How to Become a Better Communicator with citizens from other countries
“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way that we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” - Anthony Robbins
Anthony Robbins points out that in order to communicate correctly, you must understand where the other person is coming from and how they see the world. As a journalism student, I have the aspirations to be an international correspondent. Understanding how other cultures view the world and how they communicate is vital to successfully distribute information. Taking my international mass communications course prepared me to analyze how other cultures communicate in order to successfully advertise events as the events coordinator for the International Students Association at USC.
Communicating can be challenging between citizens in the same country let alone communicating with people across the world. The JOUR 541 (International Mass Communications) course offered at USC dives into how the media in major countries around the world communicate with their citizens but also how they deal with the restraints of their governments. The class was split into groups and assigned a country to analyze their major media outlets. My team had to audit Ireland (WTC) and since I had already been, I was assigned team leader. Our audit not only looked at the culture of the country, but it also looked into how the y communicate with their audience. We found that in other countries, social media is not as big of a news source as it is in America so communication relies mainly on television.
​
That class illustrated that in order to communicate with students from other countries, I could not rely on social media to advertise our events for the International Student Association. In ISA, we had students from all over the world participate in our biggest event, World Night (BTC), which I was planning at the same time that I was taking JOUR 541. World Night is when students form all over the world perform something from their country. For example, Irish students would riverdance. Planning the event was easy but advertising the event was difficult. At first we stuck mainly to social media but it wasn’t doing so well and we couldn’t figure out why. I then had the realization from my class that we had to step away from social media since not all international students were on those sites. We expanded to flyers and face to face advertisement in Maxcy House which improved the recognition of the event exponentially because more than 300 people that showed up to the event.
I was nervous at first because I assumed that we would be so different that we would have limited topics to discuss making the conversations awkward. It turns out, the face to face approach became my favorite. The conversations started as advertising an event but as they went on, I learned about each person’s background and how their countries operate. We learned about each other’s differences and yet found so many commonalities. Discussing an event that focused on learning new cultures opened the door to people sharing their own cultures. I spoke to someone from England about going to the event. Even though she was too nervous to participate, she told me about Bonfire night and how it’s similar to the Fourth of July but it makes fun of someone trying to rebel in true British humor. The same situation occurred when I was a member of the Study Abroad Association. I was a part of a mentor program connecting students who want to study abroad with students from that country. Reaching out to the international students was easier for me because I knew a little about each country to relate and start conversations. I now feel confident that when I start my career as an international correspondent, I will be able to interview people from other cultures and make connections that will help me down the road.
BTC Artifact: World Night poster for the International Student Association
Picture from a hike in Kilkenny, Ireland.
Key Insight 2
Picture of the University of Limerick (UL)
'Ireland's Sports Campus'.
According to Dictionary.com, culture is defined as the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc. Before studying abroad, I thought culture was defined by language, food, and clothing. Now, I know for a fact that sports can also define a culture. Football and baseball define American culture, soccer or futbol defines Spanish culture and rugby defines Irish culture. I quickly realized that rugby not only defined Irish culture, but it also united the country.
​
I studied abroad in Ireland in the fall of 2015 and during that time, was the Rugby World Cup. Every television in every bar had those games on for everyone to watch. As Americans, we had no idea what rugby was so we decided to dedicate one member of our friend group to start playing so the rest of us could learn. Luckily, that dedicated member was me. I started off competing in a league that was separated by living communities. Although I had no idea what was going on, I was called the ‘Johnny Sexton’ of the group. Again, I had no idea what that meant until I looked it up. Johnny Sexton was a fly-half for Ireland’s National Rugby Team and was one of the best players. That’s when I realized the importance of rugby to the Irish community. Rugby players were not only household names but everyone knew everyone on the team. Every single player was known throughout the country. I advanced from the community league to the University of Limerick’s official school team. I was lucky enough to go to school in the sports capital of Ireland where the national team would practice and could be seen walking around our campus. I got to know and learn from the stars of the team, Paul O’Connell, Tadhg Furlong, Peter O’Mahony, and Johnny Sexton. I never realized the opportunity I had until I noticed the stares I would get when walking around campus with them. Rugby was so important in the Irish culture that walking around with those players was like walking around with Tom Brady.
When I returned from Ireland, I took ENG 282 (Topic: Riverdance, Rebellion, and Rugby: Imagining Ireland) (WTC). My professor knew that I studied abroad and played rugby for USC’s team. I had a leg up in that class because I knew the language, experienced the culture and understood the rules of the game. I was even recruited to help other students in the class and teach a lecture on the game to help students really understand. I had so much passion for the sport that I was able to convince a majority of my class to come to our games that season. We read a play for the class that was about an Ireland National Rugby Team match. I gave a presentation on the sport and wrote an explanation (artifact) of why I chose to present on rugby. The fact that rugby was on the curriculum to learn about Irish culture is proof of how important the sport is to the the country. During my presentation, I spoke about how rugby represents the country. The Irish struggled under British rule but never gave up. In rugby, you get knocked down repeatedly but learn to stand again. That represents Ireland and their fight for freedom. I wrote a poem (artifact) for my team about what rugby means to me. I shared my poem Never giving up and using your team to help you is what rugby is all about. Rugby culture is not only getting knocked down and getting back up, but it's getting back up for your teammate next to you. I learned from ENG 282 how the citizens of Ireland relentlessly fought for freedom and how they used each other to get through it.
​
Returning to America in love with a new sport, was a huge culture shock to come back and not have people know what rugby was. It was so important in Ireland and the fact that no one knew any members on the U.S. National Team, or even knew what the sport was, astounded me. The rugby culture of togetherness was the same but there was a lack of understanding about the sport that Americans had. That lack of understanding is the reason rugby is not popular in America and probably never will be.
Picture of me playing rugby. I'm the player with knee braces.
Key Insight 3
How Other Countries Perceive American Politics
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power,” -Abraham Lincoln.
I think Abraham Lincoln was inadvertently discussing the power of the United States. Being the commander in chief of a country is a lot but being commander in chief of one of the most powerful countries in the world comes with immense pressure. The leader of the United States not only has power over Americans but he also has a huge impact on citizens of other countries. I never realized how much power can affect a person and their ideals. I also never realized how much of an impact the United States has on other countries until I studied abroad. We are a major power in the world that is watched but we don’t really pay attention to other countries.
Being a political science minor at one point, I was required to take POLI 201 (American National Government). The course discussed the United States’ branches of government and how everything worked together in order to get legislation passed and the balance of power needed for everything to run smoothly. I grew up in a very political household so I assumed that I had known a lot about politics and my grade in that class supported that idea. I understood how our political system worked to run this country and I thought that was enough. Just focusing on the United States. What I did not know at the time, was that I did not understand how our politics had any relation to the world around me or that I even needed to understand that relationship.
​
Picture of the Cliffs of Moher
​
I studied abroad in Ireland of 2015, when Donald Trump had just announced that he was going to run for president. In order to study abroad, the Study Abroad Office holds a required orientation to prepare you for the transition and how to handle coming back to America. I gave a presentation to the International Students Association about my study abroad experience and speaking about the country. During the demographics section, I touched on Irish politics and how much they knew of American politics. One thing that we did not learn at the orientation, was how to handle foreign opinions on our politics. Taking my POLI 201 course, I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of our government and how it works. I was wrong. Almost everyone I met asked about my political view and what I thought about Trump. Not only did they know the big names in American politics but they also knew smaller governors of certain states that I had never heard of. It was then that I realized how important America was to the rest of the world. We have the power to make a big change that can positively affect multiple countries. It seemed everyone had an opinion on American politics and who I should vote for when I didn't even know who was running.
​
This semester I am taking POLI 341(Contemporary United States Foreign Policy). I assumed this class would be difficult for me due to never learning about foreign policy before. Turns out, that I had learned about it but just not in a classroom setting and all at one time. I know how the policies can get passed and formulated by POLI 201 but I also know how it affects other countries from talking to people while I was abroad. I saw how powerful the United States is and how we can use that power as a nation to make the world better and help power countries with conflicts that they can't handle. I even wrote a policy brief on the affect of UN Peacekeepers. Being on the security council means that we have the power to send peacekeepers into war stricken areas. That power can make big changes. Discussing foreign policy in Ireland taught me that I need to be more open minded when making decisions. It also gave me perspective on how smaller countries are influenced by our decisions. I now pay more attention to what is happening in other countries and how America reacts policy wise.
Picture of me at Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland
Leadership
Problem
With an increase of social media, we can now connect with people from around the world but with that technology, comes a decrease in face to face communication. There is now an intangible difficulty of communicating with people of different cultures and different norms. If someone can’t communicate with people that are different than them, then they’ll only interact with people that are like them. Communities are already segregated and if communication decreases, that divide between different groups will grow and the probability of finding common ground will be even less likely. With the growing of globalization, we need to be able to communicate with different communities or else the collaboration will be negatively affected and we will go back to isolated cultures.
Solution
The solution needs to be finding common ground and keeping an open mind. When studying abroad in Ireland, I learned from my second key insight that sports can unite even the greatest enemies. Any commonality can bring people together, even sports. Part of finding the commonalities was learning and listening to the other people. Asking questions and really listening to the answers. Finding those connections through talking and not focusing on our differences but discussing our commonalities and strengthening the similarities. Not ignoring the differences, but realizing that we had differences and that’s okay. Just because someone has a different opinion then you does not mean that they are wrong.
​
Plan
ANTH 102 (Understanding Other Cultures)(WTC), was one of the courses we could take to graduate with leadership distinction. The concepts of this course should be taught to everyone. It’s terrible that we need a class on how to be a good person and communicate but we do.
Step 1
The first step is realizing that there are other cultures out there. According to the State Department, only 36% of Americans have passports. That means 64% of Americans have not experienced culture outside of the United States. By realizing there are different cultures furthers the realization that there's more than one way to do something and just because a path is different, doesn't mean its wrong.
​
Step 2
There needs to be some understanding of how those cultures work and operate. This knowledge will help make connections. The culture doesn't have to be fully understood. The basic knowledge can provide a framework to start conversations and make connections.
Step 3
Actually conversing and experiencing the culture is the final step. Experiencing another culture doesn't have to be international travel, attending a Latin or Greek festival could be a great learning experience. Stepping out of your comfort zone to learn about a different way of life contributes to personal growth and an open mind.
​
My experience in ANTH 102
Every class we would discuss our personal experiences and learn about what others have gone through and learned other perspectives on a plethora of issues. I learned about immigration from the perspective of a Mexican exchange student, some of the health rituals in Africa, and how as a white female to discuss race and privilege with an African American student, with no one being offended. This class was vital to my success as Events Coordinator of the International Students Association (BTC) and with communicating in everyday conversations. Just being in ISA pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to speak to students from all over the world. I used the knowledge from speaking with a student from India to start a cricket tournament with ISA to bring cricket fans from all cultures together. The tournament was not successful because there was already a group of people that did that. If I had the opportunity to do it again, I would partner with that group to make it better. ANTH 102 taught me how to start the conversation and make those connections to learn about different cultures.
Artifacts
World Night
WTC
BTC
WTC
BTC
WTC
BTC
