To start off the Connect Express experience has been a very welcoming one. The experience was much better than I expected it to be and I truly enjoyed it. From the several reasons as to why I enjoyed this experience as a whole is due to the people that were with me in this experience. My group was made up of 7 members, all varying in ethnicities and everyone was very interactive and open. My group members were open to all sorts of discussions and debates and they were very respectful when discussing sensitive topics from around the globe. What made the Connect Express discussion differ from other discussion groups is that everyone came into this experience with open ears and with the willingness to talk and debate certain topics with respect. I found my group members from non-middle eastern countries to be intrigued and interested in the politics going on in the middle east and how it differs from what they are dealing with. The discussion was different since it was not on the basis of argument or a defensive discussion, it was more so as an informative discussion. I used to think that I am an open minded person and would be able to tolerate everything but this experience made me realize that i am not. I came into this discussion with my own personal biases which made me feel very conflicted in discussions. Given my background, I am prone to a more conservative and ‘close-minded’ way of thinking. The discussion sort of forced me to overcome this and start thinking through the shoes of another person. When sensitive topics that I do not agree with were brought up I found myself silenced and unable to speak my truth. It was a shock for me since I know myself to be very open about anything and everyone. The discussions made me realize that this is actually a conflict of mine where I believe to be something and end up being a completely different thing once I am put in that situation. An example of this would be the openness to the LGBTQ community. In my community, this is a frowned upon topic and I am not exposed to people of that community on a daily basis at all. When presented with someone from that community I did not feel threatened or furious – I felt like I wanted to understand more. The only time I felt uncomfortable was when we were asked to identify someone using their proposed identities. This made me feel very uncomfortable and conflicted since this is not something I would necessarily be exposed to and now I am forced to give into it in some way. Nevertheless, this did not ruin my experience nor the image I had for this person who is truly a well educated and respected person – it was simply a new experience for me. This specific experience helped me work on my discussion skills and approach to new people. I am going to implement my newly learned skills and knowledge into my personal discussions by choosing to foster a respectful and non-argumentative discussion instead of debates. All in all, this experience was an eye opening one where I was introduced to new people with new backgrounds that are different than mine which lead me to gain more knowledge on the world around me. This is an experience that I will definitely be having again.