• What have you learned intellectually about the topics we’ve covered so far? Please refer to at least four readings, videos, or activities that helped you learn this and explain why. What questions do you still have about these topics, and how might you use your Soliya experience to enrich your knowledge?

I learned to be more open and discover new identities. I started exploring this through checking others’ ALTCVs; They were interesting and broke the idea of “this person has a certain personality because they give a specific vibe”. Soliya will definitely let us explore more identities from all over the world. There are many concepts I learned from the games, specially Spent: I learned that there are many decisions in life you should take where you have no options, so this means you don’t choose; you are FORCED!! Also, never start a family unless you have some capabilities as it is such a vital responsibility. This somehow links between equity, equality and othering for me. To explain more, when one starts a family, they should be able to provide them with the best, but in a life full of discrimination, people at least should raise their children based on a mix of equality and equity. For example, all kids should go to the same school (same standards and level/ equality); however, if they have a disabled child, they should attend another school (equity), but at the end, they should be fair between their children to bring up responsible balanced citizens. Moreover, inclusivity or belongingness differ from one person to another, where Soliya will shed more light on such concepts. Finally, I explored unconscious biases like being biased for Egypt in any conversation by our class discussions. I expect Soliya to offer the same for us.

Questions I still have:

Why don’t people get to live anywhere they feel local without visa or any political restrictions? (https://www.ted.com/talks/taiye_selasi_don_t_ask_where_i_m_from_ask_where_i_m_a_local?language=en) I feel that Soliya might not answer this question, as I believe that many people around the world have the same question. 

• What have you learned about yourself and the way you view the world so far? What questions do you still have about your own self and how you present yourself to the world? How do you expect your identity to affect your Soliya experience as you interact with people from other cultures? How might you use the Soliya experience to enrich your self-knowledge?

I view that the world should be a free open space, yet it will never be free of judgments or biases. The key is to keep things to one self and never harm others. I believe that there is a lot I did not discover about myself. Along the way of exploring new topics, I keep exploring more about myself and this will never stop. I’ve already had a similar experience to Soliya in my International Marketing course, where we meet with people from around the world and work together on projects. I feel that I was open to interact with people from different cultures and it was super interesting. I love to listen and learn new things.

• What have you learned in terms of interactions with other people? What questions do you have about how to become a better “global citizen”? How would you like your Soliya experience to help you learn to be a good “global digital citizen”? How might you use your Soliya experience to enhance your ability to interact with culturally different people?

Adaptation is always the key; There is no one rule fits all, so when dealing with diverse people, each should have one that suits them.

Example: Forms of greetings in different cultures https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_hBK8Ni4yQ 

People would’ve never known that without communication, so to be a good global citizen, you need to interact with diverse people by traveling, virtual meet and greet, reading, exploring authentic cultures and much more. Soliya will offer us the opportunity to deal with different identities and global citizens for sometime to grasp every detail about all concepts and discoverings.