Lessons From Study Away

It was interesting interviewing my friends about specific stories from our time together.  It was a strange moment of judgement (positive, of course) that made me apprehensive.  However, it was very useful to gain others' insight into how I appear in a new environment.

My first interviewer was my friend Laura.  The story she described was of me attending the major Duke versus UNC (University of North Carolina) basketball game.  She had known that I really did not like sports and usually would not join watching them on television (there were games everyday and schoolwork absorbed most of my time)-- it was just one of those things I had strong opinions about.  So she was surprised by my willingness to attend this big rival game that people assured would be a once in a lifetime experience.  Furthermore, she was surprised and proud of my engagement with the game: cheering, commenting, getting anxious when they went into overtime.  Although in the end we talked and I explained that I probably wouldn't want to attend another, she respected me going into the experience with an open mind despite my previously developed opinions.  I agree with Laura in that although it is not always easy to get out of your comfort zone and do things you don't particularly enjoy, it is important to gain perspective-- which is a common theme throughout this entire study abroad experience.  Although I did not go to a foreign county, I temporarily engaged the 'culture' of Duke University and truly tried to understand their feelings about the sport and why it was so important to them.  It can be easy to write people off when you disagree about their opinions, but it is so much more valuable to try to understand their perspective.

I also interviewed Ginny, who was my independent study partner in my three week long course.  We had not spent very much time together prior to the independent study class, but we had decided to become partners due to a common interest in birds: our a study topic.  We worked with seagulls and trying to determine their food preferences and techniques of obtaining food.  Ginny and I were both relatively quiet and kept to ourselves for the most part during social events.  Although we were both nice and friendly, we appreciate our alone time and are not the most socially outgoing people.  So in her story she described being nervous about working together because she did not think I would be very talkative or fun to work with as we were spending a lot of time with one another during this project.  However, she said to her great surprise I was actually very engaging, outgoing, and conversational once I warmed up after an about an hour of working together.  She said I was nothing like how I had originally appeared to her.  More specifically, she remembers me cracking up about this one laughing gull behavior in which when they communicate they throw their heads back and make a silly laughing noise.  I would always find this so funny and couldn't stop laughing and she said it just really showed how light-hearted and enjoyable I can be. I think her story really emphasizes how when we meet new people in new environments we cannot overly trust our first impressions.   People, especially of other cultures and backgrounds, can act very different in various contexts.  Like me, I appeared shy and withdrawn because the shock of a new environment filled with people I do not know makes me nervous.  However, that does not reflect my true personality.  It is important to give people the opportunity to act like themselves; if someone seems mean, they could just be having a bad day.  Give everyone the chance and attempt to make people comfortable enough to act themselves.

Laughing gull
(I unfortunately could not find a picture of them cocking their heads back)