Reflections 

I've always thought of myself as a global citizen; I took my first international flight before I was born. I was then fortunate to grow up in a city where I can taste Nicaragua while dancing to Cuba. For me, a globally focused vision is a lifestyle, not an ideal. Being globally focused means I understand that being a global citizen is a process, not an accomplishable task. 

 

Participating in the global initiatives FIU has to offer helped me expand my global awareness to further stretches of the globe, as well as fine tune my leadership skills as I transition from student to professional.  I came into FIU wanting a study abroad experience due to my interests in global psychology and desire to return to my home country Nigeria to work in the mental health field. I was fortunate to travel to Mysore, India as a Research Fellow for the Global Health Study Abroad (GHSA) Program. The program exposed me to the intricacies of the Indian healthcare system, pushing me to think critically about the current structures that exist and how existing within cultural paradigms determines the type and quality of care one receives. I also was forced to experience a different perspective on healthcare. While I was familiar with the disease treatment models of the United States and Nigeria, I was exposed to the more holistic and wellness centered Ayurvedic practices that are quintessentially Indian. A highlight from this experience was the ability to learn the true meaning of yoga as a lifestyle that encompasses much more than just specific poses. Seemingly innocuous things like the types of food one consumes and when, as well as when one wakes up are central to living like a yogi. 

 

During my time in the GHSA Program, I was able to learn more about the graduate school process, from picking PhD mentors to preparing a stellar application. I began to look into the application process more seriously and realized that the more people I talked to and resources I sought out, the more I did not know. Gathering information felt tedious at times and overwhelming at others. There is so much information out there, littered among blogs, podcasts, and university websites. After returning from India with new goals -- narrowing my research interests and making myself a competitive PhD applicant -- I sat with other PASS e-board members to discuss possible events for the semester. I decided to send out a poll to determine the needs of our members. An overwhelming majority (80.9%) of respondents were interested in graduate school, but only 17.6% were actively in research labs! In an effort to solve this mismatch, I pitched the idea for an event series I named "Passing into the Future" that would host workshops on everything from writing a personal statement to learning SPSS. In addition to this,  some e-board members and I decided to create a podcast that would disseminate some of this same information to run concurrent with the events, and bear the same name. We wanted to continue the conversations we were already having with professors and graduate students, but in a public way so that other students could gain new knowledge as we did. We also wanted to create a community for psychology students to engage with each other based on the common goals of professional, and personal, development. 

​

The Passing into the Future event series never materialized, but the following semester, a planned professional dress workshop with free headshots morphed into Professional Development Fest. This eight-hour event combined four career workshops with mock interviews, CV/resume critiques, and the opportunity to network with graduate students. And of course, free headshots. We planned this event with the desire to meet PASS members' career development desires in a way that allowed them to do minimal work for maximum gain. Instead of having to book appointments for different resources on different days, they received one day of intense professional development. Planning and hosting this event, as well as co-creating the podcast and running the PASS instagram account helped me discover my passion for community engagement, event planning, and media creation. These projects have afforded me the opportunity to put my community building and communication skills to the test. They have also opened me up to working with a more diverse array of individuals and pushed me to think about the flexibility of work within Psychology. 

​

I came in focused on the idea of Clinical Psychology, then found myself interested in organizational level work such as Community Psychology and Public Health. Working on these community engagement projects has further allowed me to streamline my research interests and speak to mentoring individuals who have pushed me to begin exploring subsets of Psychology such as scientific communication and community program implementation. I am incredibly grateful for the experiences I have had in global learning at FIU. They have not only pushed me to think more critically about the world around me, but also to examine it from different sides while still striving to meet the needs of the community around me. 

 

Moving forward, I would love to act as the bridge that connects people to digestible resources on mental health care, especially in the African community. Jargon is often alienating to the average person, and even moreso in a community that is already wary of the mental health field. I would love to continue creating media and events that normalize the idea of mental health as just another form of healthcare, and destigmatize the act of receiving such care. 

 

​
 

​

​

​

​