Friday December 17th. The day that I found out I would be participating in the Yale Young Global Scholars program for the year 2022. That day was filled with excitement and joy for what the future program had in store for me. All the months leading up to that day, I would think about how the program would work, what I would learn from it, if I would make new friends and if I was able to immerse myself into the various components of the program.
Then, not long after, July 18th came. It was the first Orientation day where the program was introduced along with all its various activities. I was intrigued by the immense creativity that the program was based on but most especially I was impressed by the amount of love and support. I never would have imagined to feel the joy, excitement and love from a zoom call but that was indeed possible :) What shocked me the most was looking at the number of different countries that people came from in this session, it was around 180, a number that only people who are great travelers get to see. But, I had the privilege to experience in a span of only 2 weeks. It felt unreal to see so many people coming from all different parts of the world, an experience that I know is a privilege and that I will cherish forever.
During these two weeks time, unique seminars were presented to us, some of my favorites were about the death penalty, the sense of belogning and diving deep into how lucky we are. These seminars not only showed me the importance of these topics but they taught me something that is precious in life: listening. As much as someone wants to talk about topics that they feel passionate about, the art of listening is crucial for developing healthy relationships among people. During the seminars, I would listen to various opinions, a lot of which contrasted themselves, which helped me understand how diverse the world is but it also showed me the amount of knowledge you can gain from simply listening to others. I was truly amazed by the conversations that were occurring in these two weeks.
I would also like to add the thoughts of a peer from my family time, Abdulrahman, who stated that “diversity helped me listen to a lot of different opinions and different experiences from all over the world that otherwise I would have never had the chance to.” Speaking about family time, I would love to write a few words about it. The memories we created, the fun we had, the laughters, the vulnerability that we shared will forever hold a special place in my heart. I never thought I could bond with people by simply being in a zoom call but it happened. I would like to thank the instructors, the professors, the staff, the media team and finally my peers for making it a magical adventure.
Author Details:
Benedetta Pettenello
Politics, Law & Economics
Italy