by Adriana Alfaro Liendo
My name is Adriana Alfaro, and I am the new Global Engagement/Intercultural Learning Student Assistant, working with Anita Deeg-Carlin in the Office for Intercultural Learning. As a junior double majoring in Government and Theater with a minor in Global Engagement, I was attracted by how the Fries Center will help me increase my knowledge of the intercultural world and have an open mind regardless of cultures and traditions different from my own or the ones I am comfortable with. I decided to apply to this position because during the summer I had the opportunity to work at A.S.E. Global Bridges, where I engaged with high-level representatives from the US, Eurasia, and other regions to develop a capstone project focused on the role of arts, sports, and education in facilitating cross-cultural and multinational dialogue. Additionally, I utilized my learned skills to foster a community of globally minded, collaborative elite student dancers.
My capstone project was about nuclear weapons in the United States and Kazakhstan and how the testing affected the indigenous population in both countries. The focus of my capstone was music and how indigenous people can utilize music as a way of protesting. I also gained knowledge of the world of ballet and the countries where that is very popular, such as Russia, Germany, and Italy. I was exposed to this kind of dance, the languages, and its people, which opened my cross-cultural view of Europe and made me realize that we have more in common than we have differences. In addition to that, I am involved in cross-cultural communities at Wesleyan as a Wesleyan international speaker, where I have the opportunity to share the culture of my country, Venezuela, the language I speak, Spanish, and the current situation of my country, a narco-socialist regime. I am also part of the Latin and Ballroom Dance Performance Team, where we exchange different typical dances from Latin, Caribbean, and Hispanic cultures and share them with the Wesleyan community. As an immigrant, I will share my sensitive knowledge and my intercultural competence on campus. I am confident that my skills and experience will enable me to positively contribute to The Fries Global Studies as a Global Engagement and Intercultural Learning Assistant.
