Getting involved with FIUTS programs brings me values and skills that I always carry in life. By interacting with people of different ages, religions and cultures from all over the world, I have developed my sensitivity to human differences, enhance my cross-cultural understanding and practice leadership skills. Some of the issues that international students face are language barrier, cultural shock, social isolation, complication in communication with faculty and peers, etc. As a member of Student Board, we address these issues and brainstorm ideas to help international students cope with these challenges. At a more personal level, I often follow up with other students after events, encourage first-year students to step out of their comfort zone, refer them to resources available on campus. By reaching out to others, I have learned that everyone has something to share and it is always interesting to listen to other people open up about their lives.
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Being an international student in an American college, especially a university as big as the University of Washington, is not easy but the Foundation of International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS) has made it much more bearable for me since the very first day I entered college. That is the reason why I decided to pay forward the hospitality I was shown when I came here by becoming FIUTS facilitator, and now a member of Student Board. FIUTS is a nonprofit organization based on campus of UW Seattle since 1948. FIUTS’s mission is to offer comprehensive range of programs serving international students as well as Puget Sound community including orientation, cultural workshops, homestays, mentoring, leadership training, educational outreach etc. As a Facilitator, I had a chance to facilitate amazing events, such as the Wednesday lunch – the largest monthly international gathering on campus, CulturalFest – an annual event that consists of Expo Day and Performance Showcase, Orientation for first-year students, and a series of events to promote global understanding, help facilitate connections between students and bring international students and the Seattle community closer.
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Leadership Competencies Gained
Appropriate Interaction
FIUTS helps me to develop a sense of culturally appropriate communication, enhance my sensitivity to cultural differences and deeper understanding of international affairs. Since FIUTS is such a diverse community, it is not hard to find someone who has a completely different opinion from yours, but we welcome and value everyone's opinion. As for me, if I hear opposed ideas from two different people, I would try to keep a unbiased interaction and research about that issue by myself, taking both others' perspectives into account. Sometimes it does not take much to hurt someone, and this is the last thing I want to do to somebody. How to communicate well and make others feel good about themselves is also something I care about and been trying to practice. As an international student, I have faced language barrier when I first come to America, and it really frustrated me when I wanted to participate in a conversation or raise my opinion but just can't put my thought into words. I noticed this among other international students too, and to make them feel comfortable, I would be patient while listening to them, repeat after them to see if I get their ideas right, and encourage them to share their thought despite barriers.
Decision making
We make decisions all the time but for a leader, the decision we make is at higher stakes since it will not only affect ourselves but it also does to others. One time I led a group of about 25 students on a walking tour around Ballard neighborhood as part of their orientation. And when we were strolling around the Farmers' market, it started raining heavily. Some students wanted to keep continue and visit other attractions, the others want to head back to campus, and since most of the students in the group were new to Seattle, it is my responsibility to make sure that they arrive back to campus safe and sound. So I decided to call a trusted friend who is also a FIUTS facilitator and asked her to accompany the group that wanted to head back to campus and I can keep going with the other group. It was an easy decision to make, but it is not always the case that I can accommodate both parties, sometimes one group would have to be favored at the expense of others and in that case, I would make sure I am not biased when making my decision.
Diversity
FIUTS is undeniably one of the most diverse organization on campus. At FIUTS, we value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives that every Husky brings, strive to create a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels comfortable to share their thoughts and learn from each other. As a FIUTS Student Board member, I always try to promote diversity, catalyze friendship between students from different cultures and facilitate meaningful dialogues. With that in mind, whenever I lead an event, I often start off by telling everyone to find someone from a different country from theirs or someone they haven't talked to. This sometime might be awkward at first, but at the end, students gain new friendship and more importantly, they have stepped out of their comfort zone. The take-away message I want to say is that we have a lot to learn from people who come from different background from ours, and we should all cherish the diversity we have here at the university.
Other perspectives
I firmly believe a good leader needs to be open-minded and open to ideas that contribute to the the mission of the organization. I had the opportunity to interview potential candidates for Student Board 2016-2017, and I had to admit I learned a lot from them. They have incredibly creative ideas and sometimes they have a really different standing points from us, which makes their ideas much more valuable. At the FIUTS leadership retreat first weekend of May, Student Board members were able to sit together, reflect on these ideas and put together a transition report for next year's Student Board.
FIUTS helps me to develop a sense of culturally appropriate communication, enhance my sensitivity to cultural differences and deeper understanding of international affairs. Since FIUTS is such a diverse community, it is not hard to find someone who has a completely different opinion from yours, but we welcome and value everyone's opinion. As for me, if I hear opposed ideas from two different people, I would try to keep a unbiased interaction and research about that issue by myself, taking both others' perspectives into account. Sometimes it does not take much to hurt someone, and this is the last thing I want to do to somebody. How to communicate well and make others feel good about themselves is also something I care about and been trying to practice. As an international student, I have faced language barrier when I first come to America, and it really frustrated me when I wanted to participate in a conversation or raise my opinion but just can't put my thought into words. I noticed this among other international students too, and to make them feel comfortable, I would be patient while listening to them, repeat after them to see if I get their ideas right, and encourage them to share their thought despite barriers.
Decision making
We make decisions all the time but for a leader, the decision we make is at higher stakes since it will not only affect ourselves but it also does to others. One time I led a group of about 25 students on a walking tour around Ballard neighborhood as part of their orientation. And when we were strolling around the Farmers' market, it started raining heavily. Some students wanted to keep continue and visit other attractions, the others want to head back to campus, and since most of the students in the group were new to Seattle, it is my responsibility to make sure that they arrive back to campus safe and sound. So I decided to call a trusted friend who is also a FIUTS facilitator and asked her to accompany the group that wanted to head back to campus and I can keep going with the other group. It was an easy decision to make, but it is not always the case that I can accommodate both parties, sometimes one group would have to be favored at the expense of others and in that case, I would make sure I am not biased when making my decision.
Diversity
FIUTS is undeniably one of the most diverse organization on campus. At FIUTS, we value and honor diverse experiences and perspectives that every Husky brings, strive to create a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels comfortable to share their thoughts and learn from each other. As a FIUTS Student Board member, I always try to promote diversity, catalyze friendship between students from different cultures and facilitate meaningful dialogues. With that in mind, whenever I lead an event, I often start off by telling everyone to find someone from a different country from theirs or someone they haven't talked to. This sometime might be awkward at first, but at the end, students gain new friendship and more importantly, they have stepped out of their comfort zone. The take-away message I want to say is that we have a lot to learn from people who come from different background from ours, and we should all cherish the diversity we have here at the university.
Other perspectives
I firmly believe a good leader needs to be open-minded and open to ideas that contribute to the the mission of the organization. I had the opportunity to interview potential candidates for Student Board 2016-2017, and I had to admit I learned a lot from them. They have incredibly creative ideas and sometimes they have a really different standing points from us, which makes their ideas much more valuable. At the FIUTS leadership retreat first weekend of May, Student Board members were able to sit together, reflect on these ideas and put together a transition report for next year's Student Board.