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Shenandoah University - Global Citizen Project

Study and Travel Abroad with Shenandoah University

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Fiji National University – Humanities Department

Sometimes I don’t think that I realize how advanced we are as Americans compared to a lot of places. FNU has a short existence of five years, however it was created by merging many schools of various disciplines that were previously established in Suva. Walking around the campus made me feel sort of like I was in the barracks at VMI. The building were all cinder block, with limited air conditioning and desks that looked like we fell into a 1980s high school class room. There was minimal students that had technology and even the equipment for the staff looked to be quite dated.

While waiting to enter into a class we saw a wall in their hallway that was a space for any and all students to express quotes and drawing of inspiration for IWD which is International Women’s Day. The tour guide asked us if we wanted to leave our mark on FNU and we all picked our favorite inspirational quote about being unique and inspiring and made SU a part of FNU’s stand for gender equality.
Wall of Hope at Fiji University

 

Wall art reading Shenandoah University supports IWD
We then got to observe an ethics class. However what I quickly realized was that their humanities department still taught the basics of what we learned. The Arts & Sciences kids as well as the Business and Conservatory kids witnessed a completely different part of the university and we engaged in an ethics class or was evident that the social issues we face in our classrooms are the same as those students across the globe.
Students seated in class at Fiji University
We were able to participate in a discussion about the controversy behind religion and a transgender Fijian while Dr. King put what the professor was saying into an American perspective. From that point we toured the journalism department and were interviewed by the students for their future launch of their very own radio station. Student from the journalism class asked us about current events that we experienced and what censorship issues we faced in the United States.

 

SU students seated on bench at Fiji University

Even though the university wasn’t as modern and contemporary as we were used to it made me realize that the students we encountered were perfectly happy with everything they had. As students in America we are constantly given the most current technology and taught to learn with online homework or hybrid classes but what we fail to realize is that it is solely about the education and the opportunities we can receive from our university  at the end of the day. It’s all about the experience and making the most of everything we encounter. This was truly one of my defining moments on GCP. I think that visiting and talking with FNU students of all different disciplines made me realize how much we take for granted and that this opportunity we have is once in a life time and that we are put at Shenandoah for a purpose which is to become the best we can be with the most globalized perspective possible and to fully embrace the world around us.

-Taylor