Curiosity Leads Virtual ExchangeAlumni to an Internship Opportunity

Rama, a high school student in Jordan, participated in GNG’s Student to World, which offered her in-depth insight into current global topics and led to changes in her perspective, growth, and development. Rama is a naturally curious person with many passions. The topic of her first virtual exchange was Overcoming Bias, and she was intrigued by an activity meant to help participants visualize the diversity in their personal lives. Centered around subconscious bias and racial diversity, this activity prompted Rama's curiosity to continue engaging in the program. Rama says this was “an opportunity to do the hard thing and develop personal relationships with people from different races and learn about their culture directly from them.”

After such a positive experience with the Overcoming Bias course, Rama continued to enroll in other Student to World courses focused on a variety of subjects. She participated in a module on Multiple Intelligence and recalls a powerful moment where she was confronted with redefining what it means to be intelligent. As someone who enjoys writing and has a talent for it, she never thought that it was something that she should be proud of. Taking this course at such an impressionable age allowed her to think about intelligence beyond just grades in school. She realized that her writing skills were a form of intelligence and something she should celebrate, grow, and sharpen.

She describes a memorable experience with a peer during a class session discussing women's rights. It was a learning experience for Rama to hear the perspective of a male classmate who had opposing views to her own. He then shared that his opinions had changed throughout the course and that he was now proud to say that he was a feminist. “I was very moved by that... most people when they have a false idea on a certain topic and are presented with facts [struggle] to face that ‘Oh, I might have been wrong in this matter’”. Listening to her classmate share his story of development and growth was impressive and she felt inspired by his honesty. For Rama, this reinforced the need for self-reflection and taking extra time to understand others; their mindset, opinions, and perspectives, especially if they are different from your own.

After completing several virtual exchange courses at GNG, Rama applied for GNG’s Alumni Internship program and was selected to participate. The internship was designed to provide alumni an opportunity to be involved in curriculum development and digital interface design. This was a chance for Rama to work on a cross-regional team and continue learning and exploring different topics of interest to her, like social media marketing. She picked up on hard skills like data analyzing and gained experience thinking through issues and coming up with solutions. “There's like a whole list of skills that I gained from [the internship]...I remember doing my first task in which we had to search for social media pages that are similar and analyze why people are attracted to them and I found a common pattern of people being attracted to graphic design and themes. It helped me see data from a three dimensional perspective.” She also volunteered her time to plan a closing ceremony for the program and ran a successful event.

When it comes to the future, Rama does not know which career path she will take, but surely she aspires to find a career in which all of her passions are fulfilled. As she heads into the last two years of high school, she hopes to continue exploring virtual and in-person opportunities that will nurture her many interests and set her up for even more success.

Student to World, implemented by Global Nomads Group, is supported by the Stevens Initiative, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government, and is administered by the Aspen Institute. The Stevens Initiative is also supported by the Bezos Family Foundation and the governments of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.