Me, Myself, and Them: Finding Humanity in the World of "Others"
Tessa Douglas |
TEDxCedarCity
• April 2019
Tessa Douglas worked in the field of international education for 15 years, and helped found the study abroad program at Southern Utah University. She has been amazed at the ways her worldview has changed as she has gotten to know international students and colleagues. Even more exciting to her were the changes in acceptance, love, and trust she saw in the students she helped study abroad or bring to the U.S. Her wide range of experiences, from initially being nervous to host SUU's first Afghani Muslim student to difficulty understanding through the accents of the university's first Irish students, Tessa has learned to love and cherish those relationships and the kaleidoscope of people and cultures that shape our world. She understands the fear of those who are unfamiliar, but knows that the best way to overcome our distrust of "others" is to engage with them.