International Symposium Day

So yesterday was International Symposium Day, which occurs every fall and spring semester. International Symposium Day basically consists of students giving half hour symposiums to the rest of the student body throughout the day about some aspect of either their venture grant, special project, or study abroad experience. Classes are canceled for the day and students get to go to however many and whichever symposiums they choose. I still had to work on Int. Symposium Day, so I didn't get to go to as many as I would have liked, but I did manage to pop in on two: 'The Oddity of My Presence in India' and 'Increasing Literacy Levels in Ghana, One Book at a Time!'. The first symposium was about one Beloit student's journalism internship in India over the summer and she discussed how both her identity as an American and her Asian facial features affected how those around her responded to her. The second symposium was given by my friend Nana Akosua, who spent some of her summer doing a venture grant in her home country of Ghana. She spent a month working with and teaching a group of 35 children (who had never before owned books of their own) living in a rural area outside of Accra how to read.

(Fun fact: the first time I ever stepped foot on campus as a prospective student was international symposium day, so I always get a good dose of nostalgia with my symposium days.)