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Category Stories: Racial and Ethnic Identity

  • Easy Ways to Connect to the Caribbean in London

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    Easy Ways to Connect to the Caribbean in London

    London has a large population of immigrants from the continent of Africa as well as the Caribbean. As such, it can be easy to make yourself feel at home as an Afro-Caribbean person in London. Nigeria, Somalia and Jamaica are just a few countries a part of the African diaspora that have a noticeable presence…

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  • Forging a New Path, Revisiting an Old One

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    Forging a New Path, Revisiting an Old One

    One of the reasons I studied abroad was to explore what I was capable of doing on my own. I wanted to have a completely unknown adventure and to further myself from the comfort of my own home and family.Little did I know, I would encounter more family and be welcomed into a new home…

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  • Navigating My Identity as a White Woman Abroad

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    Navigating My Identity as a White Woman Abroad

    Looking back on my expectations In the United States, one of the many privileges that I enjoy as a white female is the ability to blend in with the majority. When traveling, that’s not always the case. Because I have fair skin and blonde hair, in Argentina I have found that I’m often the object…

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  • Building a Family Abroad – A Digital Story

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    Building a Family Abroad – A Digital Story

    “My friends taught me what it was like to truly care for myself… My family abroad will be my family forever.”Queen Mary Fall 2017 student Rachel Godfrey describes making lasting friendships and connections while studying abroad in England. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2gq48NE0eQ Rachel G. | African American Studies and Science in Society student | Wesleyan University | Queen…

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  • The Guessing Game: Racial Identity Abroad

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    The Guessing Game: Racial Identity Abroad

    Just the other day, as I was walking down a main street in the center of Kandy, a shop keeper called out to me, “Hey Japanese!” When I was walking back to my host family’s home that same day, a security guard at an intersection near the home came up to me and asked if…

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  • Studying Abroad with my Family Abroad

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    Studying Abroad with my Family Abroad

    Experiences Living with my Japanese Peruvian Family in Lima For a long time, Peru was somewhere I was curious about. I’d heard mentions of it from my dad, though he didn’t like to talk much about his years living there before moving to the US.I’m half Japanese Peruvian. My dad was born in Lima, Peru;…

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  • The 4 Stages You’ll Go Through as a Minority Abroad

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    The 4 Stages You’ll Go Through as a Minority Abroad

    My experience as a woman of color (specifically black) is different than the experience of someone who may look just like me but lives within a different socio-political atmosphere. This could be as subtle a difference as a few cities over, or as drastic as the other side of the world — a situation I…

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  • An American in Cuba – Cultural Immersion

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    An American in Cuba – Cultural Immersion

    The Privileges of an American Student in Cuba “American,” or what it means to “be an American” is not an idea I had ever truly stopped to consider. Prior to my semester abroad in Cuba, I had barely traveled outside the United States–a trip to Paris when I was six-months-old (which I continue to debate…

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  • From Aloha to Kia Ora

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    From Aloha to Kia Ora

    Long before I set foot in New Zealand, while I was still waiting to hear back from IFSA and conducting preliminary research on the place where I would soon spend five months studying and exploring, I assumed that New Zealand would be very similar to my home in Hawaii. Afterall, how different could this Pacific…

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  • Goodbye London, Or: It’s a New Beginning

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    Goodbye London, Or: It’s a New Beginning

    Four months ago, when I just arrived in London, I was shy, scared to make friends with others, and also anxious about whether I would enjoy my time here. I remember clearly that I wouldn’t even go out of my room as my social anxiety hindered me from meeting with other people. Now, as my…

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