I met some amazing, funny, and intelligent people from all over the world, and thanks to YYGS, I got to travel the world from the comfort of my home. I learned how to speak Mandarin and Hebrew from my peers, made some amazing friends, and we learned more about technology, toxins, and how our traditions and culture influence our emotional expression.
Academically speaking, my strengths have never been in the humanities, so I was convinced that I’d have nothing to contribute and that my YYGS experience was going to be fruitless—how wrong I was. Despite the fact that I’m set on pursuing science in the future, having dabbled in the world of literature, philosophy, and culture for two weeks has underscored the importance to me of embracing interdisciplinary learning.
“I attended 3 seminars, namely Glamorizing Suffering, We Are How We Eat, and Scientific Language. One common sentiment carried throughout the seminars and YYGS as a whole was the importance we hold as individuals in our world. Prior to YYGS, I could not grasp the concept that the simple actions we take in our daily lives impact the reality we live in.
“I was initially skeptical about the benefits of a virtual program, but YYGS Connect was extremely well executed. I loved being able to meet people from different backgrounds and gain different perspective on how they view the world.”
“I have not always thrived in a school setting. However, the process of applying to and attending YYGS taught me how curiosity for learning is what it truly takes to succeed in an educational environment.”
“My favorite lecture was the Trolley Problem by Professor Shelly Kagan, where he had talked about moral principles behind making the right decision. As an Economics enthusiast, I was intrigued even how proper decision-making can also involve making significant sacrifices in life: a core concept of Economics.”
“YYGS was like the condensed milk and sugar in this dainty cake made from ingredients from all over the world, holding everyone together in joy and harmony.”
“One of the most memorable experience during Yale Young Global Scholars was Dean Chun’s lecture on decoding the brain activity through fMRI. I was fascinated by our technology due to the promising milestones that we have reached. I hope to undergo research in neuroscience either during college or through research in my profession so this lecture was directly relevant to my future ambitions.”
“YYGS definitely changed me; it helped me understand in a deeper way topics such as populism and globalization, it opened my mind to a whole new world of opportunities and solutions that may work in my country, it awakened in me the desire to change something bigger than my family and friends, something like my country, or at least some communities. After YYGS I feel very motivated and encouraged to change a very small part of the world; I know I have the responsibility to leave a mark.”
“Through YYGS, I was introduced to philosophy, one of the academic disciplines that I never had the chance to explore in my entire life and did not even consider studying it. It turned out that I was wrong. Once the philosophy seminars started, I fell in love with them.”
