Get Engaged:Maisha and Shanen’s inspiring fellowship journey
This July, Shanen Gomes (Senior, MNS) and Maisha Salim (Junior, ENH) participated in a summer course at the Central European University (CEU) titled “Get Engaged: Students as Citizens” along with a conference centered in Lithuania. The course focuses on aspects of social justice and civic engagements, giving the chance for students to engage with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
When asked about the impact, Maisha explains that this provided a platform connecting student leaders from around the globe with the goal of building problem-solving skills by contextualizing our own experiences within a transnational framework. Shanen further details how the fellowship programs cover topics like research, technology, campaigning, design and implementation. But that’s not all they learned.
Shanen shares, “Besides developing my project, the course made me more resilient as a person.” Maisha adds, “It can best be described as opening a window to the world and realising the view was far bigger and more colourful than imagined.” They also reflect the global perspectives in the classroom when asked about how the experience broadened their worldview.
When sharing their favourite memory from the experience, Maisha and Shanen both focused on teamwork. Maisha shares that though interacting with multicultural people was difficult, it was also fun once the ice broke. Shanen detailed how they were asked to build the highest structure possible using spaghetti and marshmallow which caused conflict between teammates but was resolved through communication.
When asked for advice for such opportunities, they recommend keeping an eye on social media and applying even if we fear rejection. Maisha recalled that she found out about the fellowship through Social Impact Lab (SIL) while Shanen found out through the Open Student University Network (OSUN).
Maisha and Shanen’s journey of excellence inspire us to chase our dreams and step out of our comfort zone.
