Last week I attended the talk led by Paul Wilcox. Though I had no direct interest in sports, my younger brother runs track very seriously so I decided to sit in on this presentation. I found it very interesting how the athletic culture in the U.S. and U.K. were so drastically different in ways I had never thought about before. For example, in the U.S., former athletes are encouraged, and even honored, by large donations to their Alma mater. However, in the U.K., such a practice was not as encouraged. In addition, I found the discussion of the athletes dedication to travel such long, and likely uncomfortable at times, distance was very inspiring to see. I admired the passion of the athletes and through their dedication I gained an appreciation for the culture of sports that I had not previously had. I will definitely look forward to more events like this in the future.
Rose Scholars Spring 2017
Endless possibilities
I also found the differences in how people in the U.S. versus the U.K. viewed donating money and asking for donations super interesting. I think I tend to automatically assume a sort of uniformity across Western cultures. Hearing about that difference was a good reminder to check that assumption and look to recognize and learn about cultural differences in unexpected ways. That difference also sort of shows how participating in cross-cultural experiences requires negotiating, reconciling, and accounting for these differences.