Global Careers and Education Panel with the Opportunity Network

Global Classroom had a wonderful experience working with the Opportunity Network, an after school career development program for talented and underserved public high school students in NYC (www.opportunitynetwork.org). Two panels of global guides met with the Opp Net students to share their international educational and work experiences. Here’s what two of the participating global guides had to say:

"As a fan of Global Classroom I am very excited to tell about my experience about the Opportunity Network workshop. This is a group of young high school juniors who are blessed to have this opportunity some other students may not have. I found them very open-minded and keen to learn a lot about other cultures and to travel to learn more. With no doubt, I could see that they act as global citizens."

Idrissa Mamane Rabiou
Nigerien Global Guide

“My name is Ali Elghrabawy, and I am a Fulbrighter from Egypt. When I was in Egypt I never imagined that I would talk about my country one day. Global Classroom gave me the chance to do so. I participated in the Opportunity Network workshop, which was an excellent opportunity to meet high school students in NYC. They were very bright and we have been told that they are the best students in NYC. In this workshop, my fellow Fulbrighters and I talked about our countries and answered questions from the students concerning everything about ourselves and our countries including culture, economy, people and traditions. By participating in such workshops I have also started to appreciate my own country, realizing that many things we used to take for granted are really great and unique, which made me more proud of my country.

In other global classrooms I not only talked about my country but sometimes also involved the students in some activities that can get them closer to Egypt. Almost all of these students have never been outside U.S.A. and I am sure they loved virtually visiting all the countries represented by me and by other global guides. In my opinion, correcting stereotypes is the most important benefit from this program because it will help American students to appreciate other cultures and create a global understanding.”

Ali Elghrabawy
Egyptian Global Guide

Opportunity Network student perspectives on Global Classroom panel

Hi, I am Syeda Habib. I am a junior at Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. I am a student of the Opportunity Network where I had the chance to meet Fulbright students. It was an interesting experience having the Fulbright students at The Opportunity Network session. They brought diversity from all across the world. Just listening to them talk and hearing their accents, I felt Egypt, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Tanzania were all well represented.

I personally never met anyone from any of these countries and I was exposed to different cultures that were unique and rich in ways other than money-wise. Benoit introduced France, a country that is very diplomatic and through their museums, rich in culture. Ali introduced Egypt, the oldest country in the world full of history. Chye-Ching introduced New Zealand, popular for being environmentally friendly. Kanthi Lewis introduced Australia, the oldest, driest continent. Kemi Kafanabo introduced Tanzania, where 120 languages are spoken in a land rich in animals.

It was also interesting to have foreign opinions about the United States. I learned about a typical day at school and work compared to the United States. Learning about all these cultures put the United States in a different perspective for me. I felt lucky living in the United States because America really does have many opportunities available. For example, I was very surprised to learn that in most other countries, people have to choose their field of interest at the young age of thirteen. I am almost seventeen and I am interested in engineering and environmental science and still not sure if I want to get into those fields. It was a unique opportunity to learn about different countries from people born and raised there. It was a pleasure having them at OppNet.

Syeda Habib
Opportunity Network Student

Hello! I am a junior from Richard R. Green High School of Teaching. I saw Global Classroom at the international panel held by The Opportunity Network, a career preparatory program. Global Classroom was a wonderful experience for me as I learned a lot from this session. I was very interested by the comments that the scholars made about their daily life here, compared to that of their country. I could relate a lot to their first impressions of the U.S. This was awkward for me because I always felt that nobody ever had the same feelings that I confronted when I first arrived to the U.S.

What I found most astonishing about the scholars was how quickly they assimilated into the education system here, considering that every country has a unique educational system. I know that I never would be able to fit in so hastily if I were to participate in a study-abroad program, especially if it is for college. College, by itself, is difficult and the transition from high school to college would be even more challenging if I were to go study in another country. I have always had a desire to study abroad and the scholars from Global Classroom inspired me to follow this dream of mine. I am very grateful to them for making me realize this.

Not only did I learn about the first experiences of the scholars in the U.S., but I also gained a lot of knowledge about their native country. I have always had the dream of taking a trip around the world, but that is not possible. In the small session with the Global Classroom, I felt that I had done exactly that. The scholars did an excellent job of describing the overall political, economical and cultural aspects of their country of origin. I was most fascinated by the descriptions of Niger by one of the international scholars, Idrissa Mamane Rabiou, because we, as students, rarely get the opportunity to learn about Africa and I feel that we should be mandated to study this continent further, since the worst events such as genocides are happening at this place now.

The lifestyles of the scholars, in addition to their experiences and their countries, taught me a lot more about them. I didn’t expect them to lead such an enjoyable life because I thought that they would be more serious and studious. Nevertheless, I felt satisfied knowing that they had such an interesting, yet normal life. This also made me consider if I should become an international student as well. This is essentially why the Global Classroom was a remarkable experience for me as it introduced me to a new field of study that I probably will consider in the future.

Sadea Shahan
Opportunity Network Student

Vikings Invade Staten Island!

Well okay, not really. But Global Guide Helgi and his workshop about Iceland and Vikings did! Helgi met with 3^rd grade students at the Virtual Y after school program at PS 22 to introduce his home country of Iceland. The students learned the differences between stereotypes and reality of Viking lives. For instance, most Vikings were excellent seafarers, craftsmen, and traders.

Each student also learned how to write his or her own name in Viking runes, ancient letters that Vikings often carved into rocks. If you’d like to see what your name would look like in runes, you can go to this website: http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/write_in_runes.html.

Helgi also taught the students how to say basic phrases in Icelandic, and everyone was fascinated to see beautiful waterfalls and hot springs in Iceland. Students were amazed to discover that because of tectonic plate movement, Iceland is actually getting bigger every year, whereas North America is shrinking. One student commented that he wanted to move to Iceland immediately!

All of the students had a great time and took home copies of the Viking alphabet and their own name written in runes. When asked about his experience, global guide Helgi had this to say: “I would recommend it to anyone. It is fun and enlightening for me and hopefully for the kids also!”

Kelly Brooks
Global Classroom Coordinator

Russian delegation visits the Bronx

Hello! My name is Nikita V. Yakovlev. I came from the Russian Federation as a participant of the Fulbright program for Russian International Educational Administrators. Our group had a wonderful experience during this program – we have learned a lot about education in USA, cultural differences, people. We also tried to give information about our country during meetings and visits.

One day we visited a high school in Bronx, NY. It was a wonderful opportunity as for us and for the children: to meet us face to face and to use the opportunity to ask different questions and get a response. I understood that these children are really interested what is going on in the world in other countries.

Hopefully, our conversations helped children to get a prospective of importance of international education .

I`d like to thank Metro International Organization with Global Classroom program for this wonderful opportunity. Now I can tell my kids and their friends about my school visit in the USA and, who knows, maybe they will be friends in future!

Nikita V. Yakovlev
Visiting Russian global guide