Traveling can help people not only learn more about the world, but also about themselves.
International relations senior Mary Machtel said after traveling to Brazil for a study abroad that was similar to an exchange program, she learned a lot about the country, but also about how important it was for her to step out of her comfort zone and make connections with others.
“Making those connections, seeing the differences, seeing the similarities and how to work with those,” she said. “It’s something you can bring back to your home.”
Although on a smaller scale, Global Festival was a chance for MSU students and other members of the nearby communities to do exactly that, Machtel said.
Global Festival was held Nov. 13 at the Union. The event featured a variety of options for the guests to participate in, such as a world gift shop, children’s activities and different tables representing different countries.
When guests walked in the doors, they could receive a Global Festival Passport from welcome tables. The passport stated on the front, “I traveled the world in one day!” as guests could fill the passport with information from the countries they visited at Global Festival.
“It’s an opportunity for them to see who they go to school with at Michigan State and it’s an opportunity for them to see how diverse the university actually is,” Machtel said. “We have students from all over the globe, and to me that’s something really special.”
According to the pamphlet, 41 countries were represented at Global Festival and there were about 24 cultural performances scheduled.
One of the countries represented at Global Festival was Armenia by the MSU Armenian Student Organization.
“We’re here to just educate and bring awareness to the public about our culture, our issues and just come together and see all the other ethnic organizations here today,” junior human biology major Sarine Misirliyan said.
Misirliyan is the president of the organization and said they were writing children’s names in Armenian for an interactive element. There were books and brochures on the table to share Armenian culture with event goers.
One of the main aspects of Armenian culture the group was trying to share was the history of the Armenian genocide, political science pre-law sophomore Karine Eurdekian said. Michigan passed a law this past June that requires students in grades 8-12 to learn about the genocide, which is a big deal Eurdekian, another member of the MSU Armenian Student Organization, said.
“For children to grow up knowing that there was another group of people that were persecuted because of their faith and their beliefs is really important because we have to learn from the past and history of what’s happened in order to prevent the future chaos and wars,” she said.
Global Festival not only helped educate students from the U.S., but also helped fund international students studying at MSU.
On the third floor of the Union, doctoral student Deepak Gunasekaran could be found volunteering at the world gift shop with his wife, doctoral student Vidhya Ramalingam.
All of the items sold at the world gift shop are international and are donated by students and anyone else in the nearby communities, Gunasekaran said. The proceeds go to the Community Volunteers for International Programs, or CVIP, to provide scholarships for international students.
Gunasekaran said he won a scholarship that helps international students with spouses attending MSU. The scholarship helps couples, such as Gunasekaran and Ramalingam, pay their tuition bills.
“It helped me a lot, first of all, and it felt good to get a scholarship,” he said.
Gunasekaran figured since the scholarship helped him, he could help out at the world gift shop, he said. There were a lot of different items for sale, including a set of wooden masks he thought might be from China.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
Misirliyan said there was a big variety of countries represented at the event, which provided a good learning experience for MSU students.
“I think it’s good to be aware of different cultures,” she said. “When you’re so immersed in American culture, you don’t really know what else is out there and it’s very eye-opening to see and learn about other people.”
