My Journey at Wesleyan University
My Journey at Wesleyan University
April 18, 2025 This past semester, my Earth and Environmental Science class traveled to Puerto Rico to conduct field research for our Senior Seminar class. The trips purpose is to allow student to create and develop their own research project and plan, and how the opportunity to conduct it hands-on in the field. I was beyond excited to go but …
For this assignment, I was asked to reflect on an image that another student found thought-provoking and analyze what I think is important about this image, before and after reading the accompanying essay. I chose a photo set in Havana, Cuba, taken by my peer, Henry Leighton. March 31, 2025 Henry’s photo of a billboard initially appeared to be a …
April 28, 2025 I didn’t expect to become a beach person. When I was a child, every winter my family drove down to Florida, and I despised the idea of going. I’ve never felt drawn to the idea of lying around in the sun, doing nothing while being sticky with sweat and surrounded by other people. But in Florianópolis, Brazil, …
March 15, 2025 The first month of my study abroad experience in Brazil was marked by silence and isolation. Although I was beyond excited to go, my timidness held me back, and the overwhelming cultural differences left me feeling out of place and detached. Every day felt like a challenge. I was navigating a new language, a new routine, and …
October 28, 2024 The first and only time I went to northern Brazil was for a field trip to the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia, with other students from the Brazil Middlebury Schools Abroad program. It was around noon, and the sun burned everyone and everything in its path. I was immensely grateful to be on this …
This piece in Italian reflects on my personal relationship with language and how different languages have shaped who I am. From growing up speaking only Polish as a child in Chicago, to the difficult transition into English, and later discovering joy and connection through Italian and Portuguese, each language carries a unique emotional weight. Some remind me of family and …
This reflection is about how how language connects to identity and culture. In Piller’s reading, we learn how language shapes the way people think and live, and how misunderstanding it can lead to harm. October 28, 2022 I notice that the way I speak changes when I switch to Polish. Certain concepts feel more natural to express in Polish, especially …
This reflection was written in response to Sorrells‘ Opening the Conversation. The reading introduces key concepts in intercultural communication, including how culture is shaped by power, history, and global systems. Sorrells challenges the idea of culture as fixed and instead presents it as something dynamic, contested, and influenced by structures like colonialism, nationalism, and capitalism. There are two reflections, one …
For this assignment, we were asked to choose an intercultural hero. It is dedicated to someone who embodies empathy, resilience, and the ability to navigate across cultural boundaries with awareness and compassion. I chose Igiaba Scego, an Italian-Somali author, activist, and journalist whose work explores identity, belonging, and marginalization in Italy. October 2, 2022 Igiaba Scego is an Italian-Somali (italo-somala) …
October 2, 2022 While participating in a story circle with my peers, I realized that socio-economic identity is an overlooked lens through which I can understand my behavior. In my self portrait, I didn’t write much about my economic background because I didn’t yet acknowledge its significance in my story. Our discussion revealed how much it class influences the way …
