Below are excerpts from Shaina Benedict’s winning essay for the Global Awareness portion of the 2018 Building A Better World Scholarship. Go here to find the 2018 BBW Winners.
We Open our Eyes? – “By expanding our possibilities, we open our eyes to a brighter future. This 
can enable us to truly understand what is not seen by a quick glance but understood with an open mind. The idea of change comes with creativity and acceptance to what is not normal to us. It is not enough to just accept someone but to understand why they think the way they do. …we need to comprehend the cultural differences around the world in order for us to have a broader view of humanity and the issues that are at stake.”
Because of Mom and Dad – “My family has raised me to view the world differently than how my grandpa sees it. When I was in elementary school and a young teen my parents took me to a youth group. This youth group was multi-racial. There were various types of ethnicities and I was the minority. I did not think much of it. I was young and was just happy to not be bored at home. I did not realize that this was not normal to others who lived in my community. The people that were my friends were discriminated against and I was offended because they were just kids who were judged by many for a culture and ethnicity they could not control.”
Celia from Estonia – ” in the fall of 2017, I got an exchange sister from Estonia. She was very different my friend from Thailand, but I was determined to make the best of it because I had a chance to learn and get know a girl who lived in a country that was unfamiliar to mine. She told me about the foods she eats, her language, her friends and what they do for fun. Even the customs of the people in her country were very contrasting from my families. . In return, my family showed her the same. Our cultures are very contrasting, but we were able to come together and become best friends because we had humanity in common. It was hard at first to learn to change our way of life so that she would feel more comfortable and pressed the boundaries of what we expected. I have learned a lot from her and people sometimes complain that I sound like her and the way she talks, but at least I know that I am becoming more cultivated.”
No Time to Waste – “I can see that all cultures are important and that by sitting in Michigan and pretending the rest of the world does not exist would be a wasted opportunity. In my future, I would like to find a career that allows communication with people and works them on a personal level… I want to be able to help people in all countries financially and spiritually, and after I graduate from Muskegon Community College I want to join study abroad programs at possibly Grand Valley University. I am a person who wants to be politically and socially involved…
…There is so much to learn about the cultures around the world that I want to explore. There are too many places to see, people to meet, and no time to waste.”
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...and check out Shaina’s plans– “High school was the beginning, but it will not be the end of my education. Every day there is something new to learn and something new to be discovered. 
Knowledge shouldn’t come with a cost, but it does. I have graduated, but I am going to finish up my Associates Degree at MCC with the Early College Program and then I plan to transfer to a University to get my bachelor’s degree in accounting or business. With this degree, I hope to make my own business. With my business, I hope to bring different cultures together through art, music, language, and stories. While being able to travel and help people who are who are struggling financially or to people who are not getting enough food and medical assistance. .. To say that I know exactly what I want to happen in the future is absurd because I don’t have all the answers. I only know what I want to happen and if it doesn’t work a certain way I am open for change, but I do have the basic guidelines to how to get where I am going. I think that if we are open to change we are open to possibility and that can take you places.”
Thank you for your support through the years.
Together We Can
