Global Conversation

"You are welcome to your country Syria." The heading on the entry/exit form passed out as our plane descended over the lights of Damascus made me smile. Good thing I'm welcome, because it's good to be back. A '11.5 International Relations concentrator specializing in Politics, Culture, and Identity, I'm spending this summer in "Sham" (the Arabic name for Syria's capital) working with the Iraqi Student Project, an NGO that assists qualified Iraqi refugees living in Syria with applying to and preparing to attend American universities. Last fall, I spent a semester off in this city of dry heat and open doors studying the local Arabic dialect and getting to know the region. Now, it's my turn to help this summer's batch of fourteen get to know the intricacies of college life in the U.S. - including everything from the education system to English slang to visa requirements to academic vocabulary - so that they might find in America, as Syria has encouraged of me, a second "home."