“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself”-Buddha

This famous Buddhist quote exemplifies how being fully immersed in another culture is an excellent method to understanding the way of life and culture of other people. Certainly, reading about locations around the globe in class is one way of exploring customs of different ethnicities but actually being able to eat, sleep, and live in a foreign place is an incredible journey that has opened my eyes to countless things, including how my western perspective influences how I think about Asian culture. The relevancy of this quote to my personal experience is twofold, the aforementioned realization of being in another place and secondly it alludes to the paths or new experiences unfolding daily in Singapore.

My first new adventure started in the United States before I even left North Carolina. I tearfully left my parents and many things familiar to me, to board the American Airlines plane to New York, my first plane ride. My feelings of anxiety about turbulence and being so high in the air were not as high as I had dreamed they would be the night before I left, which was good. As we stepped on the plane, I was horrified to the think this could possibly be the last time I would see my family and actually be on the ground. We took off and Megan, another program participant, was extremely helpful in easing all my worries. She generously offered me gum, which is something they do not sell in Singapore, gave me a “play by play” about what I was getting ready to experience, and offered me a hand to hold for takeoff.

As we glided through the air, I could see the highways, cars, and homes from my window seat slowly disappearing. This flight and the ones to Hong Kong and Singapore were absolutely incredible, almost indescribable. I absolutely loved flying because we were able to see so many things from the air that we could not from the ground. At one point, we were up higher than the clouds.

Since we have been in Singapore, I have had the most amazing experiences thus far in my life. From going to the top of Mount Faber and seeing Indonesia to being on Orchard Road, experiencing tropical rainstorms, and getting accumulated to the National University of Singapore. Singapore has such a diverse population as a multi racial nation it was so interesting to be able to interact with everyone. Chinatown and Little India were fabulous glimpses of these cultures and peoples.

I want to give a special thank you to everyone affiliated with making this program possible, especially Alston Gardner, Barbara Lee, Dan Gold, Zhiqi, Layna Mosley and Andrew Reynolds, as it has truly changed my life.



Jazmine Carter