Global Scholar Experience
If you told 17-year old Sydney that she would graduate as a distinguished Global Scholar, I believe she would question what a Global Scholar even is and how I ended up with that title, but she would be proud to hear it was one of the best decisions she made during her undergraduate career.
As an International Studies and Political Science double major, History minor, and Model United Nations team member, committing to achieving a Global Scholar Certificate felt like a “no-brainer”. From my second semester at UW-Oshkosh, my life had been quickly surrounded by the global world and I was being transformed into a global citizen. The courses, subjects, and ‘global experience’ I studied and participated within allowed me to develop cultural awareness, sensitivity, empathy, and lust for a world beyond the United States. While I believe it is one thing to pay attention to the news or read and research about an event that happened hundreds of millions of miles away from your home, to me, becoming a global citizen was drastically impacted by my extensive Model United Nations experience, where my global knowledge was applied in ways I never knew was possible.
On this page, you will find pictures and documents from my global experience, a reflection from my global experience, relevant course-work, and my goals as a global citizen for the future.
Global Experience: Model United Nations
When I walked into my first Model United Nations meeting, I had no idea I would be a part of an organization that would change my life. From my first year on the team to my last, I have represented over 15 countries, intensively researched, wrote and gave speeches on over 13 international topics and affairs, and worked in diplomatic negotiations with college students from around the globe.
When I joined the Model UN team, I was shocked by the knowledge and tradition of excellence this small town Wisconsin team had. With a 36 year streak of winning the highest and multiple awards at the Midwest Model United Nations Conference and the National Model United Nations Conference, this team installs skills students do not have the opportunity to gain and practice in a classroom setting. Giving prepared and impromptu speeches in front of 50 or up to 250 people, I learned how to be confident in not only myself, but my preparation in my research and ability to understand global topics from international perspectives. My spreaking, writing, and researching abilities skyrocketed before my eyes. With weekly meetings, the team would be in constant preparation for our conferences. This experience not only gave me crucial skills upon graduation, but also provided me with a once in a lifetime experience with fellow students I can call my family.
Through the culmination of my time on the team, I have been assigned to topics such as, the Eradication of Chemical Weapons; Implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Peaceful Uses of Biology in the Context of Security; Epidemics and Outbreaks; Antibiotic Resistance, and Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. While these are topics I discussed in-depth, there were many times where I had the opportunity to learn about current global issues and various other topics my teammates were learning. All these topics have been researched and connected to a developing perspective which has taught me more about the world and the importance of the United Nations in the facilitation of global cooperation. No global problem can be solved by one country, it takes global solutions to solve global problems.
This team has truly made me a global citizen and I could find the perfect words to describe how this team has impacted me. After my first year, I have had multiple positions on the executive board and various leadership opportunities to pass down the knowledge I have learned throughout the years.
From coming to college with no conception of what a developing world even is, to leaving college being able to speak, research and write from the perspective of any country around the globe, explain global governance and various international organizations, Model UN has been a life changing global experience and is no less than a tradition of excellence.
Documents
Reflection
The writings I have chosen to illustrate my global scholar knowledge and growth are from Model UN and my Global Scholar courses from my sophomore and junior year of college. From Model UN, I have chosen three position papers, two of which received the highest award. These papers are based on the country and topic I was assigned for either the Midwest Conference or the National Conference that I would submit before the Conference began. I believe these papers show my ability to understand the different perspectives, positions, and needs a country has regarding various topics. While each position paper is from a country in Africa, each country has unique needs and positions that illustrate my ability to learn and synthesize information about the globe. The resolution I have chosen from Model UN, I wrote from the perspective and position of Uganda on Women’s Access to Education.
From my coursework, I have chosen the three Global Scholar classes I took and an additional class that was not Global Scholar, but I believe illustrated my application of global knowledge to a current global problem. For the first writing, I included my Latin American Film Analysis on a documentary about the Guatemalan Civil War and Genocide. This highlights my knowledge about a region of the world I do not too often get to study, but become extremely fascinated with. With this paper, I also demonstrate my ability analyze past global events and insert my political science knowledge. For the second writing I included, it is from a class that is not technically Global Scholar, but I believe is global in all its aspects. For my European Politics class, I was instructed to write a position paper from Croatia and analyze the COVID-19 pandemic from an EU Institution and individual Member State position. As the world is incredibly globalized, and global governance is required now more than ever, this paper highlights my ability to do research and come up with solutions to current global affairs from a perspective of another country. In addition to my Latin American Politics (GS) class, I took Western European Politics (GS). For our midterm, we were instructed with forming key parts of a research and analysis paper based on articles we had read in class about various topics. This work shows my ability to identify a problem, create an argument, and pose a solution based on global scholarship. Finally, for my last Global Scholar course, I took a History class. ‘Europe since 1914’, which went into depth about the two World Wars and the rise and fall of three notorious dictators. For the culmination of the course, we were instructed to write a series of character essays where we were tasked with creating a character that lived through both the wars and a dictatorship of our choice. My character was a Polish woman who lived in Germany during WWII. This assignment was challenging but incredibly rewarding as it applied my global knowledge and skills to guide me in creating a story that was factual but also respectful to the real events and victims of the war.
Overall, I am very proud of my global knowledge I have acquired and written artifacts I have produced. While the world is constantly changing and there is always more to learn, I believe the classes and experience I had transformed me into a global citizen.
What is next?
The Global Scholar program at UW-Oshkosh is one of the most rewarding experiences for college students. The Global Citizen and Global Scholar courses I took have been some of my favorite courses and often the most impactful. My global experience has greatly impacted my future goals and aspirations. During my second year on the Model UN team, I was assigned to the World Health Organization where I studied ‘Epidemics and Outbreaks’, ‘Antibiotic Resistance’, and ‘Mental Health in Protracted Crises’ from the perspective of the African country, Gabon. This research and study had such a profound impact on me that I have decided to write my final International Studies paper for my major on Global Public Health and global governance.
With this experience, I have the goal to obtain a Masters in Public Health with a Certificate in Global Health and either work as a logistical coordinator for a public health development company or maybe, if the stars align, work for the United States Department of Health and Human Services and specialize in Health Security. During a global pandemic, I have never felt as grateful and hopeful for my future due to the Global Scholar program and UW-Oshkosh. Beyond academia, I hope to travel and study cultures around the world and see the places I have studied in real life and time.
