In the summer of 2024, I worked at A.S.E. Global Bridges, a non-profit organization with a vision of a shared future built around mutual understanding, respect, and shared values. The Arts, Sports, and Education to promote an impactful dialogue between the people of the United States, Eurasia, and Eastern European countries (About: A.S.E. global bridges).
The internship was divided into two: the first week was about meeting different diplomats and principals to learn about intercultural, socio-political, and economic relations in these regions and the United States. One speaker who stood out for me was Mohammand Kundos, who is a principal of the Hand in Hand Kfar Saba School in Israel, where Arabs and Jews meet each other every day. Something that Mohammad said during our meeting was that “when people live and share together, they cannot be enemies.” This phrase will stay with me for a long time because most of the time it is the news and politics that separate us from saying things that are not true.
The other three weeks were about taking care of young dancers who came to the intensive program to dance. Additionally, I engaged with other interns with different backgrounds, twelve from Russia, and high-level dance and language instructors from Russia, Germany, and Italy.
Something that grabbed my attention during the first day of the internship was that the majority of my co-workers and dance participants, who were from the United States, were talking about how direct, strict, and cold Russians were, but I had a different experience with not only Russians but also with the other instructors from Germany and Italy. In my country, people kiss and hug each other very often; here in the U.S., it is not very common to kiss and hug. During my time in this internship, I found out how much I missed my culture and my country because of these people. They kissed me and hugged me every time they saw me, even though they did not know me. They talked to me about their life, and they asked questions that Americans never would ask me . I destroyed that social stigma that people have against Russia with the experience I had with them.
References:
“About: A.S.E. Global Bridges.” A.S.E., www.aseglobalbridges.org/about. Accessed 10 May 2025.
“Mohammad Kundos.” Hand in Hand, 23 Sept. 2024, www.handinhandk12.org/team/mohammad-kundos/.
