By Rick Vacek | October 8, 2024
The Hobson Wildenthal Honors College and the Eugene McDermott Student Programs supported six University of Texas at Dallas students on a learning adventure this summer in Thailand that traveled far beyond the normal bounds of higher education.
Sure, the University Scholars Leadership Symposium (USLS) inspired new ideas about leadership and teamwork and making the world a better place. But there was so much more to embrace, both in the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok and in the surrounding area.
Nandita Kumar, Alisa Model and Oluwadara “Dara” Morakinyo of the Honors College and Giana Abraham, Satwik Dutta and Zaina Asad of the McDermott Student Programs discovered lessons in cultures they had never seen (watch out for the mud), foods they had never tasted (watch out for the spices) and new relationships they never could have imagined (because they now were watching out for their friends).
“Out of all the things I’ve done,” said Kumar, a frequent traveler thanks to the Honors College’s commitment to international study, “this is obviously the coolest.”
It was a classic example of why Dr. Donal Skinner, the Honors College dean, is so enthusiastic about students traveling to foreign countries to further their education.
“I sincerely believe that it is imperative that all students have an international experience, and this can be incredibly beneficial for students with leadership aspirations,” he said. “Exposure to different cultures helps students understand and appreciate diverse perspectives, which is crucial for effective leadership in a globalized world.
“Indeed, interacting with people from various backgrounds improves communication skills, including the ability to navigate language barriers and cultural nuances. Moreover, building a global network of peers can help open doors to international opportunities and collaborations and exposure to global issues, and different ways of thinking can inspire innovative solutions and a more holistic approach to leadership.”
Kumar certainly is sold on the idea after attending the Leadership Symposium.
“It was such a unique pool of people in one room,” she said. “You normally would never get that much diversity in the audience and in the speakers.”
Despite the wide range of backgrounds, some themes did emerge from the symposium’s presentations.
“One of the biggest things that was emphasized a lot was that, no matter what you end up doing, you can be a leader within that space,” Model said. “You don’t have to start a nonprofit to create positive change in the world.
“That really resonated with me. They talked about how, if every person approached their day trying to do good in this world, we collectively would have a better world and it would be so different.”
Abraham noted the repeated references citing “the importance of storytelling and uniting people with similar goals toward one common end. In a time when attention is a commodity, stories really help connect people and resonate with the most meaningful of causes.”
The stated goal of the conference is to help students not feel alone in their humanitarian pursuits by giving them the confidence to lead sustainable development projects in their communities.
It made such an impression on Kumar, who wants to build a career working on global gender and child welfare policies, she filled more than half of the notebook she brought to the event.
Her revelation:
“I’m not the only person doing this kind of work.”
Her even bigger discovery: It makes a difference when you get to know other people.
“You don’t want to attack them because they’re different,” she said. “You want to hear their perspective because now they’re your friend. At the end of the conversation, even if we disagreed or didn’t like what the other person was saying, we are going to hang out together.”
One speaker advocated for better sanitation (her mother died of diarrhea). Another runs an elephant sanctuary and wants to see their abuse end. Maybe most telling was the speaker who attended the conference eight years ago and now is providing refurbished laptops to schools that need technology.
“He said it’s easy to see a problem and not do anything about it,” Model said. “There’s more to the world than just the ‘whats.’”
The “why” also was addressed by a speaker who told the students that career advancement would have no meaning without it.
“It really resonated that we need to be intentional with what we do and why we do it and remember why we want to make the world a better place,” Model said.
As much as they felt privileged to sit in the well-appointed conference room of the United Nations facility, where anyone asking a question was projected on the large video screen, the students talked even more excitedly about volunteering in far less comfortable environments on what the USLS calls Kindness Day.
Dutta, a McDermott Fellow, took delight in being group leader for a project in which students helped plant 800 mangrove saplings in three hours. They were covered in mud when they finished.
“It’s like doing 10 times cardio,” he said. “The ground was very soft, so we would all sink. And it’s slippery.”
Being the group leader meant conducting the debriefing session afterward. “People are so tired. Will they listen to me for a half-hour?” Dutta thought to himself.
He had a better idea: He had participants take turns sharing a word in their own language that described their experience that day, followed by its meaning.Their responses included soil, earth, mother, beauty, peace, friendship, love, family and green, and 40 minutes went by, just like that.
“That was my favorite part of USLS,” he said.
Abraham also had Kindness Day at the top of her list of experiences. Her group was tasked with making refugee children smile, which she did by painting their faces. Naturally, they wanted to do the same to the students, and everyone was equally covered by the end of the day.
The students then distributed food and solar-powered lights to the children’s homes. It opened Abraham’s eyes to how privileged she is to live in the United States.
“It was a really meaningful and impactful experience, not only volunteering but the whole conference, in expanding our world views and teaching us things that we might have known before but highlighting them so that we can go back to our communities and start making actual changes,” she said.
The students learned so much more, including the importance of not underestimating the potent Thai cuisine. “It’s so spicy compared to our food,” Model said. The fact that Bangkok is even bigger than New York City also got their attention and made for many enjoyable explorations.
Typical of their eagerness to talk about the conference is what Kumar says when she gives other National Merit Scholars a campus tour. She makes sure she emphasizes the importance of her travels.
“I know I sound like a sales pitch, but it has changed my college experience,” she said.