1) Hi Nada, can you tell us what you've been up to since graduating from THINK Global School in 2022? Since graduating in 2022, I've been pursuing a passion I found while at TGS, sustainability, and I am currently majoring in engineering in renewable energy systems at Al Akhawayn University, in Ifrane, Morocco. But there is way more than that! I've had a chance also to explore the world of...
Read More1) How has being part of a diverse community influenced your understanding of different cultures?
Being at TGS has allowed me to learn about the cultures of the countries we visit, but also the different cultures of my fellow peers. Without TGS, my life and understanding of global perspectives would be drastically different and not as diverse as they are now.
Since being at TGS, I have had the privilege of learning about cultures and languages from and through friends I hang out with daily. Seeing my friends’ different outlooks of their cultures we were temporarily part of gave me the chance to see different perspectives I had never gotten back home.
Back in Vietnam, I felt that my friends had one cultural outlook, even with them being from around the world. This might be because most of my international peers in Vietnam were already relatively integrated. However, being on the ground in new places, where we were all guests, integrating into the culture with my friends had a different impact.
2) Thinking about the various countries and cultures you’ve experienced, is there a place you feel a strong connection with?
Japan . Being my senior year’s third term, it was definitely one of the most stressful. To deal with the adversities, I learnt ways of dealing with stress, which I found in activities like running, basketball with friends, music, and just chatting with people.
This allowed me to build deeper connections with people I was already close with and others I was less familiar with. With a country that beautiful, integrating into the culture was a lot of fun. Learning how to behave and about the small cultural norms I didn’t know about was challenging but enjoyable. I built a very strong bond with Japan, both emotionally and physically, as I have lost so many umbrellas in not only Hiroshima but also Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kobe.
