N4 Story Exchange

 On Sunday, May 1, I participated in my very first N4 story exchange hosted and facilitated by my fellow global scholar, Martin Ladekarl, as a part of his GIP capstone project. In this exchange, Martin brought together students from Poly and a number of international students from across the world, including some poly students currently participating in school abroad. The exchange’s theme was centered around identity, and when we asked to think of a story, we were given two broad prompts:

1.  Tell a story about a moment when you in some way confronted (or were confronted with) a piece of your identity. You might consider the core cultural identifiers such as race, gender, religion, sexuality, age, ethnicity, ability, etc.; however, you may also wish to consider other identifiers (mother, vegetarian, sister, teacher, widow, etc.).

2. In life, there are specific moments you can look back on as a “shift” or a change. This can be either small or entirely life-changing. What is a life experience that changed the person you are today or changed the way you see the world?

While my story didn’t actually relate to either of these prompts as much as it perhaps should have, I ended up talking about a particularly traumatizing crawdad experience in my childhood. 

Overall, I’m really glad I decided to participate in this story exchange. While I want to keep the specific stories that everyone shared private out of respect for the exchange, I feel like everyone shared something valuable and personal that certainly brought us closer together. I would highly recommend a story exchange to anyone who is thinking about it!