The ability to reach the globe through Mason has been an amazing experience for me. Although Mason brings the globe right to campus they still encourage traveling beyond the institution to really get a first hand experience with global and multicultural experiences. I have not participated in any of the study abroad opportunities yet, but I feel like I am gaining the knowledge in my everyday interactions from within the office and just engaging with the community.

Although I have not participated in a study abroad experience, I did have the opportunity to travel to Liberia to visit family and see where my parents grew up. Being raised within the culture was nothing new to me but experiencing everything my parents tried to describe to me from their experience was amazing. It seemed like every conversation I was in was with family and not once did I feel like an outsider. They definitely knew I was American by my accent and my lack knowledge of how to flush a toilet, but they were very happy to have me home. I was even more grateful to have shared the experience with my mom, who showed me all of her old hangout spots and let me roam free with my cousins to get the adventurous experience she had growing up in Liberia. It was cool to see how many different ethnicities were represented within Liberia and also how they view different identities. I had a deep appreciation for my experiences at Mason by traveling to Liberia because I see at Mason just how privileged we are to have so many identities represented.

Highlights of this engagement came from running to be President of the student body. Although I did not win the title I gained meaningful experiences with a heightened sense of community. You realize that majority of the interactions students can have on campus are not achieved because our missions all run parallel for majority of the time we spend here only colliding truly when an common event occurs like graduation.

I challenged this idea of being close to one another but never truly intersecting until graduation buy getting out there and getting involved with what was happening on campus. Through the LEAD office I have intersected with many individuals from different walks of life through conferences, office events, and even reconnecting with students when we see one another around campus. We all see each other when we experience something together. I mean we see faces all the time but we recognize one another after the experience has been shared.

During the Somatic Leadership Conference I learned to understand my own personal state of leadership but I was able to hear the stories of other students and see how their everyday experiences affected their inner state of well-being. Seeing each other around campus has become a blessing and has opened my eyes to the possibility of solidarity amongst Mason students.