CLS Spark seeks to support students who are motivated and committed to advancing their knowledge of other languages and cultures to support their long-term personal, academic, and professional goals.
What interests you about your chosen language and the people who speak it?
How will increased language and cultural knowledge help you achieve your long-term academic or professional goals?
What aspects of this program do you anticipate will be the most challenging? What knowledge, skills, and experience will help you sustain your engagement and learning throughout this program?
I believe that all healthcare providers must work to increase accessibility rather than place the burden on patients from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds to navigate these institutions on their own. Learning Chinese in addition to Spanish will enable me to combat health disparities in my community through my chosen field of physical therapy.
Entering college with a strong foundation in Spanish gave me the opportunity to delve into sociological elements of Spanish speaking regions through upper-level classes in literature and film. Proficiency in Chinese will allow me to take upper-level courses that explore a variety of topics, deepening my understanding of Chinese culture and eventually using it in a healthcare setting. Not only would these skills and knowledge allow me to accommodate Chinese-American patients, they would strengthen my ability to provide for all patients as a healthcare professional.
I recently attended a talk by a Chinese Professor at Wesleyan University, Dr. Wei Gong, on the representation of Chinese culture in Mandarin. At the beginning of each introductory course, she asks students to describe the language with one word. English-speaking students most often choose “hard” because of the different alphabet, tense, and grammar, but native Chinese speakers who grow up immersed in the language see it differently; elements like tense being a natural reflection of Chinese cultural perspectives on time. Although English-speaking students might characterize Mandarin based on English as the standard, Chinese languages as a whole contain the most native speakers. Dr. Gong articulated the core of why I want to learn Mandarin; it opens up a perspective that monolingual English speakers cannot imagine. You cannot learn a language without expanding your own perspective and reflecting on your own position in an international world. This difference in cultural perspective, starkly illustrated by technical differences in my native English, will be a challenge to overcome, but those are illustrate why learning Mandarin will be so fruitful.
Statement of Experience
A key goal of CLS Spark is to increase the number and diversity of Americans who study and speak critical languages in order to develop mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Languages offer an opportunity for communication and exchange between people of different backgrounds, both within a U.S.-based cohort and with our partner communities abroad. Spark provides an opportunity for motivated students interested in a common language to form a dedicated, lively group of learners. Spark scholars will share their unique perspectives in an open-minded, mutually respectful, virtual environment.
Consider how your unique experience and perspective might contribute to your cohort.
How will your background and experiences contribute to building a supportive, understanding, and diverse cohort of language-learners?
I attended a Spanish immersion program in elementary school at Independence Charter School that emphasized the importance of global citizenship. Therefore, from a young age I was taught the importance of respecting other cultures as I learned from teachers who were native speakers. I have continued to explore this idea of the development of intercultural competence alongside language learning through my Global Engagement Minor at Wesleyan University, which affirms this connection through its requirement of high language proficiency in continued coursework and study abroad. My participation has allowed me to critically reflect on my positionality as a member of the dominant American culture and the ways in which my identity shapes how I interact with members of other cultures. I would continue to apply this perspective in my interactions within my CLS cohort.
I also bring my perspective on racism in the United States through my engagement with a course called Race in Everyday Space: The Psychological Impacts of Racism. After participating in my high school’s zoom Race Forum after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, I felt compelled to devote more time to my reflection on my own implicit biases through the course. Beyond my values in relation to intercultural competence in relation to my identity as an English-speaking white American with an international view, I also will bring my understanding of the ways I can be actively anti-racist in and the ways in which my psychology and the psychology of others can impact interactions between people of different races in order to put forth the respect that my peers are owed. I had the privilege of learning from Professor Adam Yoon Jae Kim’s perspective as a transnational adoptee from Korea and his research around the intersectionality of race and nationality when assimilated into families of dominant American cultures in a way that has allowed me to understand that my ongoing exploration of racism and ethnocentrism are deeply connected and that the conscientiousness that I continue to develop must too be intersectional.
CLS Spark prioritizes providing access to critical language learning opportunities for those who lack access or who have encountered barriers to pursuing significant study abroad or language learning opportunities. How have you used the opportunities available to you to pursue your educational goals?
How will CLS Spark help you overcome barriers preventing you from pursuing language study?
Introductory language courses meet during time slots that are also occupied by the courses necessary for physical therapy graduate programs. In order to pursue language study in Mandarin I will need a level of proficiency such that I can take more intermediate and advanced level courses that I can schedule alongside these essential prerequisites. Because I’ve had the privilege of a language foundation through Spanish immersion at a young age and continued study throughout my life alongside my native English, I feel that language learning is part of how I personally can contribute to reducing health disparities.
To that end I have sought out educational opportunities at Wesleyan like the Global Engagement Minor that would allow me to expand my ability to serve in this role. I had the opportunity to be interviewed about my understanding of American culture by Egyptian college students at the American University in Cairo through this program, an opportunity not only to gain experience actually interacting with people from different cultures but also articulate my cultural identity to someone from another country, which sparked self-reflection. I see the CLS Spark program as another way for me to enrich my knowledge and broaden my perspective.
