Students had the opportunity to expand their horizons and share their cultural experiences at the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI)’s annual “Where in the world have you been?” event on Oct. 23 from 3–5 p.m.
Attendees were able to share their experiences of culture and travel by placing yellow and pink post-it notes on the world map in the Denvy A. Bowman Diversity & Inclusion Center.
Students placed yellow post-it notes on the place they are from and pink post-it notes on any place they have travelled to. The map had a large concentration of yellow notes in the Ohio region, but many corners of the world have been touched by university students. Pink post-it notes touched Africa, Europe and Asia, as well as many other different U.S. states.
Students who attended were also able to try snacks from different countries, including some familiar favorites, such as Pocky and mochi. Everyone mingled while listening to music, as well as sharing snacks and stories from their different countries of origin, ancestry, or travel.
“October is Global Diversity Month, so it’s good to know where people are coming from,” said Keyanne Brou, the ODI social media intern. “It’s important to know where people are from so people can find community because that’s one of the big missions of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion: to create community within the school.”
The event provided a casual and friendly atmosphere for anyone to pop in, grab a snack and study, or talk and bond over shared culture. Many people knew each other and came in groups while joking over shared cultural experiences. Students meeting for the first time asked each other, “Where are you from?” and bonded over shared culture they wouldn’t have otherwise known they had.
This event, as well as the other frequent ODI events such as Pizza & the Paper and Music Monday, was created as a way to bring people together. “Everybody on campus should feel a connection with each other and learn more about different people’s backgrounds,” said Joseph Broady, the ODI outreach intern.
Having a shared experience or background makes it easier to find friends in a new place, such as university. Broady, who is from Ohio but has family roots in Ghana, shared that he has found “three other students” who are Ghanaian. “[W]e could bond with that because we have that experience. [For example, how] African parents act — we know that.”
As for Eve Asanja, a second-year student, she started coming to ODI events to look for a shared community, and she found just that. “I like how inclusive [the ODI] is. In the beginning [of college], I wasn’t really social with everybody. I didn’t really know where I fit in, so I could start getting to know people on campus.”
Asanja had a similar story to Broady, sharing that she was able to make friends with other students who shared a common cultural background. “My family originates from Tanzania, which is an East African country … A lot of my friends are African and East African specifically, so that’s how I started having friends.”
Sharing culture is a powerful tool that can bring people together, especially in a place like the university, where students come from and travel all around the globe.
