Emily is ready to apply what she's learned

It was more than two years ago when I took my first Human Rights course at UConn. I was the first of many who had just declared themselves Human Rights Major. For my entire sophomore year I studied Human Rights through history and film to grasp the concepts as much as possible. What are Human Rights? What are some of the core HR issues in the USA and other countries? I was totally devoted to my studies, but I felt like I was lacking a component. I did not apply what I had learned so the information became lost. I realized that when I attended the Human Rights Weekend this weekend. I was surprised as to how much knowledge seeped out the crevices of my mind. I felt disappointed in myself. I thought “this is supposed to me be my major, my degree means nothing if I do not have the knowledge to back it up!” The previous week I had just received my email confirming my graduation ceremony date so I was entirely embarrassed for myself.  But the weekend became a refreshment opportunity and a reminder that my trip to Cape Town was a chance to apply what I learned about Human Rights. The workshops and notes that came with it will not be discarded and will be utilized in the future.

A thought I had during the weekend that was unrelated to my dilemma was how Americans (and other countries) are uneducated about Africa. Besides individuals from South Africa, there were participants that came from Zambia, Kenya, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Though they all live on the same continent with similar features, they are all extremely different culturally. Calling Africa a country is no different than call all Asians the same--they certainly all look the same, right? Then I can say all white people look the same right?? That must mean they are not culturally diverse at all. I think it is hard for Americans to associate variety based on distinct features because they house the mixture of all cultures and races since the days of immigration. The USA is more of a mixed salad than a melting pot as things are still systematically segregated between racial/ethnical groups. We cannot seem to understand and accept our own diversity so we cannot grasp others diversity and complexities in different countries. However, this may be applied to other continents as well.