top of page
temple at night.jpg

Beth Bouche

My Global Scholar Journey

The Changes in Me: A Reflection of Learning



            When I think about who I was as a person and a student 4 years ago at the beginning of this sometimes maddening, and wild ride we call earning a college degree, I cannot say that I am in any way unchanged. When I started out, I might have described myself as simply a mom and hairdresser, portraying myself as what I do and not who I am. These days things are different, I am different.

            My first global citizen class was Cultural Anthropology, although I would not know this yet because, at this point, I had not even heard of the Global Scholar Certificate. But this class changed my life. It opened my eyes to new ways of thinking about how we came to be and how I thought of others around me who did not share my same culture. Through the anthropological lens, I was taught to think outside my westernized and ethnocentric way of looking at the world and the people around me. It also sparked in me, the desire to learn more about how some of the worldly injustices came to be and what part I could play to prevent them from continuing.

            After earning my Associates's Degree at UW-Fox Valley as it was called then, I transferred to UW Oshkosh and happened across the website for the global scholar certificate. I knew I wanted to eventually travel and study abroad, so with my advisor’s help we came up with a plan for me to take the required Global Scholar classes and earn the certificate. My next global scholar class was Globalization of Human Services. This class was based on a book titled "Development and Social Change a Global Perspective" by Philip McMichael. We studied development and globalization on a worldly level starting from the late 1940s to the present. In this class, I learned about our influence in the financial interests and colonization of the global south and the effects of the social injustices that it caused. I learned that the social structures that are set up often help only those people and corporations with vested financial interests, often forgetting about the peoples of those lands along the way.

            My next class was Western European Politics. Even though at this point I started to develop an interest in politics, I was not sure how this class would fit in with the rest of my global scholar classes, but honestly, it was the only class that I could work into my schedule at that time. It turned out to be the class that I would make great new friends in and inspire me to join the Oshkosh Student Association as a Senator. It also gave me further knowledge of how other countries run politically and how those processes affect culture and vice versa.

            My final global scholar class was Hindu Myth and Ritual. This class gave me the ultimate deep dive into one aspect of Indian culture, but we explored it through three different anthropological perspectives that spanned from India to America. This class allowed me to learn how culture, religion, and rituals affect everyday life, from birth to death. It also really solidified how it is impossible to belong to a culture that is not your own because it is not your lived experience. You might be an expert, but unless you were born into it, you never truly know. It is this perspective that I will most use in the future as I work in the Human Service field.

            My final component, the study abroad trip, was supposed to happen in the summer of 2020. I would have spent a month at Dalkeith house in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the time the University of Wisconsin River Falls had a lease agreement with the house and provided many studies abroad experiences. I would have had a chance to immerse myself in another culture and experience a different way of life. I would have been able to use the skills that I had learned in my global scholar classes to help me navigate Scottish culture. Skills like open-minded communication, looking at their way of life, religion, government, and laws from a viewpoint that is unlike my own. But alas a global pandemic had other plans for me. Even though I could not go on this trip, I know there will be others in the future. Taking the global scholar class has ignited in me a desire to travel and to experience as many different cultures as I can before I die. I have gained valuable skills to navigate cultures, customs, and traditions that are unlike my own. These abilities will not only benefit me in my future travels but my future career. After graduation, I will be starting the Master of Public Administration program here at UWO. I will use my global scholar proficiencies to help make sure that I look at policies and procedures with cultural competency and to promote justice and equity for those in our country and for those who have come to our country from across the globe. So, I am genuinely humbled and extremely grateful for this whole experience, and I never even had to leave Wisconsin.



           

Home: Welcome
Home: Work

About Me

Future world traveler

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Human Service Leadership, I will be starting the Master of Public Administration Program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. In the future, I hope to help change the systemic issues that plague our country by developing and implementing equitable policies the will close the current gaps.

temple front image.jpg
Home: About Me

"A nation's Culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people."

Mahatma Gandhi

Home: Quote

Contact

Thank you for reviewing my Global Scholar E-Portfolio, for questions or further information please fill out the form below.

305 Franklin St 
Little Chute, WI 54140

715.205.5000

Thanks for submitting!

Home: Contact
bottom of page