I’m So I-C! Why International Citizen?

“Gringa, gringa,” shrieked the little boy as I peddled through the dust-covered Guatemalan countryside. While coasting down the town’s main drag, I heard, and then noticed a pair of mother-son onlookers. Mounted on his mom’s hip with legs tightly fastened, outstretched the little boy’s arm and index finger, as I approached. “Gringa, gringa” he bellowed, this time in his playground voice. While the mother thrust her son’s arm down and admonished him with a stern “no,” I suddenly realized how others may perceive me; at that moment, I was not Tracey the individual, but rather Tracey, the American. This encounter, though brief, opened my eyes and exposed me to a perspective previously unbeknownst to me.

It’s experiences like these that motivated me to make International Citizen a reality. Growing up I traveled abroad with my mother who encouraged me to explore the unfamiliar. The opportunity to travel combined with my mother’s push to explore my surroundings helped me to broaden my thinking; those ventures, including my bike ride through Guatemala, were the inspiration for me to search out new experiences, people and cultures. As a result, I am a more global and concerned citizen. Now that I see the positive effects of new experiences within myself, I strive to create similar opportunities for others.

I hope International Citizen ignites in students a desire to explore the unfamiliar, seek out new experiences and broaden their horizons. My hope is for them to become global citizens and leaders, passing on their learning to future generations.

~TraceyAllison

My First Time...

Well first and foremost, let me clarify... I mean my first time going abroad! lol You've always gotta have that catchy title!

I imagine that parents don't often know what experiences will, or will not for that matter, make a lasting impression on thier child. Some of the grandest trips my parents have taken me on I've forgotten, and some of the most insignificant of life's events I know will stick with me into old age. But I can't imagine forgetting my first time abroad, and I thank my parents for providing me with that opty at such a young age.

My first time abroad, I was 8 years old. I was involved in a non-profit organization called Teen-Post. They had a number of educational activities all centered around building pride in African American Youth. I'd gone camping, participated in Kwanzaa celebrations, parades etc and the capstone activity was a trip to Africa! 7 people made this journey together, myself + 3 other youth and 3 adults.

I think I got the bold nature from my mother, but at 8 I was not at all afraid of the prospects of leaving all my friends and family for 2 weeks to visit a foriegn country, or maybe it was just that I would get out of school for two weeks.

We travelled to Spain, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Niger, Togo and Italy (Not in that order). And at 8 these are the things that stuck with me:

• All of the children had American names, like Michael and Kate. Which made me wonder why African Americans named thier kids Aquaneisha and the likes in the US.
• The cities in Africa were ACTUALLY like cities in the US! Up until I landed in Niger and walked around, I was certain that the experience would be like watching Lion Kingdom on the Dicovery Channel. Which was all that I had learned in school.
• The food was AWESOME!
• I remember not having enough money to buy a souvenier that I wanted, and trying to exchange a US newspaper I brought along for it.
• I met a king/queen of an area. And them telling me that my name meant princess and that if I ever came back I could have a goat and land. Scratch Coming to America, I'm Coming to Africa!
• I visited the slave castles in Ghana. They were these huge, dark places that left me with and eery/sad feeling. They explained how more than half of my ancestors came through this buildings on their way out to the Atlantic Slave Trade. They explained the conditions they lived in and the pain they suffered. Earlier this year when Obama visited the slave castles in Ghana, I reflected on how I had been there too.
• I remember the people, our tour guide especially, who were so kind and different and altogether so the same as I.

I attribute a lot of my subsequent travels (6 continents, 26 countries and counting...) to my very first time. I attribute many of my passions and interests to the experiences that I had while there... What was your first time like?

~Carmen