Introduction

Over the past few years at Florida State University in my International Affairs major, I have had the opportunity to take so many classes involving different cultures, cross cultural events and activities, and fostering relationships with different people from all over the world. Each semester I am amazed at how much more I learn about the world and each different culture that lives and thrives in it. Also, each semester tend to learn more about myself and where I stand as a person in this world and in my own culture. In particular, these past two semesters have truly broadened my perspective in general, and I now truly consider myself a global citizen in this world. In the Spring of 2012, I studied abroad in Valencia, Spain through Florida State International Programs. Through this amazing experience, I was able to put all of my prior knowledge from my major to use. Due to my studies, I was able to better connect and relate to all of the students from different countries that I met and foster lasting connections with them. To this day I still remain close with them, even though we are halfway across the globe. Now having come back to America and enrolling in this class in the Fall 2012, Culture and Identity in Context, I feel the same way about these exchange students. I feel that I truly have made a lasting connection with some of them, and I am completely grateful for the chance I had to make connections with them, which will carry over across country borders once they return home. I have been in their position, in the alternate country, looking to find new friends and make a lasting connection. I think it is for this reason that I was able to effectively connect with the students in this class, because I had been in their same position once before.

I love my area of study so much, because I feel as though I have felt a personal growth in myself these past few years in terms of cultural development and increased understanding. For this reason, some of the cultural entries I will be sharing stem from my experiences abroad in Spain, others will be from outside sources.