Dear Sophomores,
If any of you lately have read the daily announcements, checked your email or gone to the mail center lately, you may have been bombarded with information about something called Global Citizenship. If you want the formal details about the program reference the email called “Now Recruiting Sophomores Applications due 9/15” you received a week ago, but as I know as a student myself you may have been too lazy to open the pdfs that gave more information. So, I am here to tell you why you should apply the Global Citizenship program and why it will be the best decision you ever make at Lehigh.
Global Citizenship or “GC” as most of us refer to it, is Lehigh’s best kept secret. It is a four year program where you have a cohort which is more like a mini family of about 20 other students in your grade that you spend time traveling together and expanding your knowledge and perspectives on the world. So below are a few reasons to help give you incentive to apply for this amazing program.
#5 Amazing opportunities
College students are all about resume boosters, right? Doesn’t the word “Global Citizenship” on a resume look intriguing? Won’t your job interviewer look that over, become curious and then you can go on and on, on all the amazing things you learned and experienced because of GC. In the fall of my freshmen year, GC took us to Philly and we were able to go to an immigration office where we watched a naturalization ceremony and learned about the specific struggles about applying for citizenship within the US. Then in the spring, we went to the United Nations and we learned about the UN’s struggles in completing the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015. In addition, this summer I had an internship at 2 Degrees a food bar company that donates a meal to a child in need for every bar bought (they are in the bookstore, go check them out). What set me apart from the other applicants was that in my phone interview I talked about Akshaya Patra, the NGO we visited while in India that feeds over 1 million children a day and one of the main organizations my company donated meals through. I swear to you, if you apply for this program the benefits and opportunities you will make because of GC are endless.
#4 You will get an entirely different perspective on the world and on Bethlehem
The emphasis on GC is the fact that it is an interdisciplinary program. My cohort is from all around the world, we study all different things and so we all bring different aspects to the program. When we learn in class about both the benefits and consequences of globalization, everyone in class brings a unique perspective both from their studies here at Lehigh and from their home background. In addition, the junior and senior year of the program have a strong emphasis on the Lehigh Valley community. My class right now is called the Citizen and the City and a huge part of our class involves service learning where we work with refugees new to the Lehigh Valley. Our seniors are currently working on their capstone project, where they integrate all of the skills they have acquired from their abroad experiences and GC classes to somehow help the Lehigh and/ or Global Community. Last year, some seniors studied problems with water in Bolivia and others studied the consequences of the Sand Casino on the Bethlehem community. Basically you will become super knowledgeable about both you’re global and local surroundings, which is pretty cool.
#3- You get to travel to amazing places
As part of GC, you go on an intersession trip your winter break of sophomore year for about two weeks. Past places include, Malaysia, China, Ghana, South Africa, Chile, etc. As a sophomore applying this year you will be going to Cambodia January 2nd- 16th and if you need any reasons to go to Cambodia look at the pics below. I can’t fully explain to you how amazing my intersession trip was because it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. We went to India and got to visit so many amazing organizations. My favorite part was that we saw a diversity of organizations in India, both large corporations with google like campuses who showed us how India is growing in GDP and how globalization has helped the country and small nonprofits like Human Rights Law Network who does amazing law work to defend human rights and help the people of India. In addition to the intersession trip there is a second study abroad requirement where you can go wherever and whenever you want. People in my cohort did Iacocca internships in places like Ukraine and Hong Kong and people go abroad some on programs that went all over the world. If you have major wanderlust, Lehigh has answered your prayers with GC.
the link attatched is a map of the locations of every intersession trip GC has ever taken
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/viewer?mid=zWpt3vJcbE94.kODzQ8DhiAp0
Cambodia looks pretty cool just saying
#2- Lehigh pays for you to travel to these amazing places
Remember that awesome trip I described to you where I went to India with 20 of my best friends from college this winter break? Oh yea that only cost me $500. Literally $500 for a certificate degree, a trip to an amazing country and lifetimes memories, well thank you Lehigh.
#1- Hands down you will meet your favorite people at Lehigh through GC
Best part of all of the amazing things I just listed? The people. On a college campus, that has ways to go in terms of diversity and inclusion GC is truly unique. Every member of my cohort comes from different backgrounds, was in different dorms, part of different organizations, and different majors. Would I know these people on a campus where people tend to stick to their cliques and not branch out? Probably not. GC has this amazing kind of magic eraser power where the aspects that often divide Lehigh students, athlete vs. NARP, greek vs. non-Greek, all of the sudden disappear. Nobody in GC is ever going to give you the Lehigh lookway, but more often than not embrace you with a big hug. Every activity we did in India was so interesting and eye opening, but what I look back on with so much fondness is spending time with my cohort: from taking selfies at the Taj Mahal on New Year’s day, to playing Heads Up! in the airport, to the endless bus rides it all made it that much more memorable to experience it with my favorite people. In GC guaranteed you will make best friends with people who, if not for the program, you probably would have never met.
Basically, what I hope you takeaway is that GC hands down is my favorite part of Lehigh and truly is Lehigh’s best kept secret. Sophomores please take advantage of this amazing opportunity and apply, you are truly in a privileged position. Many of my friends who are juniors heard about this program once we were already on campus and it was too late for them to join GC. This is the first time ever that GC is recruiting on campus. So if you can take all the classes, pay the $500 and are free January 2nd to the 16th I highly highly suggest you apply! You will never hear anybody regret joining the program, but only regretting not having joined when they had the chance.
There will be an info session tomorrow September 8th in STEPS 101 at 4:10pm, so please come and get working on your applications now because they are due on Monday September 15th!
**Freshmen: though we are not recruiting from the class of 2018 at the moment, please look out for more info in the spring semester!