1. 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?

Identity was the subject that I learned the most about. The TED talk Don’t ask where I’m from, ask where I’m local by Taiye Selasi was the one that taught me the most because it clarified the idea that just because you were born somewhere, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where you feel local or at home; it could be a completely different location that you may have only been to once. Instead of asking people where they are from, I may utilize the soliya experience to expand my knowledge by asking them where they feel local. How African Is Northern Africa? was one of the articles. This essay truly helped us understand how even a place’s location may still make it different from the other countries/cultures around it. It also shed light on the subject of identity. The third factor may be the games Spent and Syrian Refugees, both of which explored the themes of empathy, prejudice, and othering. These games allowed us to connect with the games on a deeper level and showed us how bias can manifest itself in a variety of ways, much like empathy. 

2. What have you learned about yourself and the way you view the world so far? What questions do you still have about yourself 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’ve discovered that I am biased toward some things that I am unaware of, that I only see the world from one point of view, and that I should try to step outside of my comfort zone to be able to see life from other people’s perspectives.  One of the questions I have is: Will I be able to mix in with people from very different backgrounds and cultures in Soliya? don’t think my identification will have an impact on how I connect with other people; instead, I believe that my personality will have an impact on how I engage with others. 

3. 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?

I’ve come to realize that you should always communicate with people in a way that suits them, not the other way around. I realized that everyone is unique and that it is preferable to treat each individual in a unique way as a result of this fact. I’m unsure of the steps I should take to become a global citizen, but I think the most crucial step is to be aware of and educated about the larger world.   I would like the soliya experience to grant me more background information about people all over the world. I think it will help me become a global digital citizen because we are doing everything remotely which makes us more aware of all the differences between people only by talking online. I might use the soliya experience when traveling abroad because all we know is the stereotypical background of different cultures but after soliya, I think we might understand more about many different cultures.