Global Enrichment

The Global Summit of 2021 is the first summit that I've been to. To be honest, it was really impressive. The school faculty and student body were able to put together an amazing virtual event that addressed global goal number three: good health and well-being . The day started with a brief gathering and explanation of how the Global site they were having us use worked. The website essentially was a portal to whatever activities we wanted to do. Then we got sectioned off into groups. I ended up being partnered with people I didn't know and it made things even more fun because we were all trying new things with new friends. In our groups, we decided what activities we wanted to do. Our agenda for the day ended up being: Smoothie bowls with Division I athlete from UMass Lowell Isobel Sargent, the mindfulness workshop with Mr. McCarthy, and, lastly, the gardening workshop with Ms. Coombs. In addition to the workshop we also heard from two guest speakers and worked together on a design challenge addressing homeless people's access to services.

Workshops

We started off our day with the smoothie bowls with Isobel. In this workshop, Isobel talked about the benefits of a smoothie bowl and what to include in them, like seeds, nuts, granola, various fruits, etc. When lunch arrived, I ended up making a smoothie bowl and it was delicious! From Isobel, I learnt the value of a balanced diet, something that so many kids have been going without thanks to the pandemic. It reminded me that there are people out there that are living off of bags of chips and whatever else than can find on sale or for a cheap price at the grocery store. That is why this summer I plan on volunteering at the Giving Garden at Rolling Ridge which provides families in Lawrence with fresh produce. Hopefully, in doing so I will be able to ensure more people have access to healthy, nutritional food.

After the first workshop, I did Mr. McCarthy's mindfulness workshop. Mr. McCarthy started off by talking about the benefits of meditation, for example, less stress and a better night's sleep. We then did about a ten minute guided meditation which involved just sitting still on the floor. This was something difficult for me because when I sit still without doing anything, I can sometimes feel like I'm wasting time. Meditating is no different. However, this workshop reminded me of the value of simply not do anything and finding peace in not stirring, both physically and mentally.

The final workshop I did was with Ms. Coombs where we planted flowers in biodegradable cups and lettuce seeds in a sealed container. I like to think that I have a bit of a green thumb, or at least a knack for keeping plants alive, so for me this workshop was really fun and educational. Before Ms. Coombs, I never knew you could plant lettuce seeds in a paper towel, let alone grow lettuce in a container. I definitely will pass on the knowledge Ms. Coombs shared.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Labadie, an internal medicine physician at the University of Chicago, was our keynote speaker for this global summit. He talked to us about the struggles COVID-19 has brought from the big things to the little. Dr. Labadie spoke to us about the sacrifices doctors, nurses, and other front line workers have had to make this past year, from not seeing their own families to having to say goodbye to patients since no one else was their to see them off. Dr. Labadie also spoke to us about exactly what the COVID-19 is: a virus covered in protein spikes which the virus uses to embed itself into a host cell where it replicates its genes and continues to spread throughout the body. Listening to Dr. Labadie was really inspiring because he didn't sugar coat how hard times were for front line workers during the pandemic, yet, he emphasized the fact that we all made it through.

Design Challenge

This year's design challenge involved coming up with a viable plan/ solutions on how we might improve connection to services for the homeless population. My group and I decided to narrow down this question and focuses on homeless people's access to technology. In this COVID world so many of us became reliant on our technology, especially students, for homeless kids and families this was a major set back in their education, which was already vulnerable. With the aid of Angelina Rogers, a clinal worker and the design challenge facilitator, my group and I came up with the idea of tech drives. Similar to a food or clothing drives, tech drives would consist of people giving collected technology to homeless people. Where would this technology come from? Well, from the everyday person who has technology that still works, however, is no longer using it. We also thought that companies like Best Buy, Apple, or Samsung could donate any old technology they have. My group also came up with idea of WIFI hotspots within shelters. We already see this with restaurants like McDonalds, however, homeless people often cannot afford to take the bus to a McDonalds or they cannot leave the shelter for fear that their spots might be taken up or possessions stollen, however, if cities were to install WIFI hotspots in the shelters themselves, homeless people would be able to access the internet and homeless students would be able to access their assignments. Lastly, another idea we came up with were data plans that are created at a discount for homeless people. The only problem with this idea is why would companies like T-Mobile or AT&T agree to such a proposition if they are unlikely to make a large profit if any. Our idea was that the government would offer incentives such as a tax break if they were to supply discounted packages to so many homeless people per year.

Conclusion

Conclusively, this Global Summit was a great learning experience for me from practicing taking care of my physical and mental health, to gardening, to learning about COVID-19, to come up with solutions to some of the worlds biggest problems. This Summit definitely provided me with a new lens at which to view the world. I cannot wait till next year!

This year's Global Summit looked a lot different from last years in many aspects, the main one being that it was in person, however, held true to the same values of honoring the UN's Global Goals. This years focus was on the preservation of language and cultural, two very communal topics which seemed appropriate coming out of COVID. The day started with a walk to the Andover Youth Center and where a brief introduction was given that spoke to the recent trips the school had been on to countries that included Iceland and Hawaii. Students and teachers alike explained how they learnt to understand the importance of preserving both culture and language. From there, we we're given an overview of the day's agenda and left to our own devices to attend workshops.

Workshops

In a group with two of my other friends, we went started at the rock painting station where we had the opportunity to paint flags and different languages onto rocks. Many students crafted some really neat art that went beyond language and flags. For example, my friend Shreya painted flowers.

The next workshop we attended was lei making. The Global students that attended the Hawaii trip over spring break learnt to make lei while they were there and instructed a class on how to make them ourselves. Lei can be constructed from flowers, leaves, shells, feathers, etc. twisted between two strands of grass or hay. They are a symbol of love, friendship, celebration, honor or greeting. It was so fun getting to make these because I got to do it with my friends which showed how the true meaning of lei is defined by the experiences you have surrounding them.

Post lei, we went to the henna workshop. Unfortunately, I have very little experience working with henna so I had Shreya , who was more familiar with it, draw the design. I got many compliments afterwards, so Shreya decided she was starting a business ;). While my henna was being applied I asked my Shreya and my other friend Sadhana about what it means, seeing how henna is a prominent part of Indian culture. They explained to me that it's often applied during weddings and celebrations. I learnt that during Indian weddings in particular, the henna artist will hide the initials of the bride's fiancé within their henna design and the fiancé is tasked with finding it.

After applying the henna, we attended a salsa dancing class hosted by my friend Giulia Panzica and her dad. It was definitely my favorite event of the whole day because we got to move around and interact with each other while learning something new, having fun, and embracing different cultures.

Design Challenge

The design challenge this year was to come up with a way of preserving culture. We were assigned to groups based off of birthdays and sent to work. My group decided we wanted to focus on cultures that are often not recognized and have historically been mistreated. After much deliberation, we settled on Japanese Americans and their time at Japanese American Internment Camps. We chose this topic because never have I learnt in depth about this side of history, it easier to cover up a mistake/ wrongdoing than admit to it, especially in the land of the free. For our project, we decided we wanted to create a showroom that would depict what it was like in the day in the life of Japanese Americans within these camps, in doing so we hoped to recreate the reality and struggles these people faced everyday as a result of white America's racist superstitions and attitude.

Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed this year's Global Summit. It forced us outside of our comfort zones and encouraged us to go beyond our own world lens. It was a way for AHS students to be exposed to a world outside their own and I believed that did a lot of good. Seeing how it is my senior year, I am going to miss being apart of Global and all the opportunities it has given me. To next year's students participating in next year's summit, I say embrace the theme and all the challenges it presents because no matter the topic it will always cause you to ponder over the way you view the world.