Help Empower Kairi's Global Learning Experience

Hey, my name is Kairi and I am an Early College Student at Bard Early College in New Orleans. I was given the opportunity to go to Berlin, Germany, and study at Bard’s Berlin Campus! This will be my first time flying internationally and I want you to help that happen, but first, let me tell you more about me and my goal for this trip!

At the end of 10th grade, I submitted my writing to my high school's Black Lives Matter writing competition. Although I was petrified to step outside my comfort zone and openly express myself, my paper on the continuation of Black excellence won. The prize was an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC. I was excited. However, I was scared to take a plane for the first time and to do it alone. While on the trip, several things took an unexpected turn and some of the planned activities weren’t open because of spring break. However, I had a wonderful experience and this helped me to learn to be more flexible when traveling. During this trip, I learned numerous things about the history of the United States that I never knew before!

We went to the National Museum of African American History and Culture where we learned about all the eras of African American History from 1619 to modern-day. Seeing how huge the museum was and how many levels and puzzle pieces fit together that explain where we are now as a society shocked me and made me want to know more about history all over the world, and how countries and cities came to be. This trip sparked my desire to travel further on an international scale which I hope to do through the Bard Early College Berlin program. I hope to learn more about Berlin and the history of Germany as a whole! I have connected with many professors at BECNO who have been around the world and it shows when speaking to them. They have broader outlooks on the world and can devise creative ways to deal with class topics on cultural differences and historical literature. Topics such as cultural values and beliefs and identity and representation from my BECNO classes have given me the desire to learn firsthand more about the world. I know that going to Berlin will be an extremely different experience than anywhere I've ever been before and I am excited for what I will learn and discover. I want to be able to connect with students from the other Bard Early College campuses and I’m looking forward to learning what I don’t already know about myself and Berlin. In Berlin, I want to be able to explore the city and learn about what made Berlin what it is today, including going to the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Having learned about Holocaust history only through books, I am eager to learn more about what happened during this period and deepen my knowledge of Berlin's history as a whole. As someone who deeply cares about eliminating inequality in the medical field, I believe this program would help me see the global intersections of social issues in the US.

I am fundraising to support my trip to Berlin, Germany, to study at Bard’s Berlin Campus.