Below are excerpts from Sunny Ross’ winning essay for the Global Awareness portion of the 2018 Building A Better World Scholarship. Go here to find the 2018 BBW Winners.
Understanding is Key – “In order to live in a world with less prejudice and more understanding, people need to be more globally aware. If people are aware of others and their situations, then they would not be so easy to jump to conclusions and discriminate against people. Global awareness brings on globalization which creates more connections to assist and benefit from each other. That exchange will create bonds that connect nations through trading, assistance in reducing poverty, lead to more 
advancements, and overall make a better world. To think of a world where people can understand the situations and cultural aspects of a people, would offer so much more to life.”
Thank you Mom – “Whether she knows it or not, it is most definitely my mother who set me on this track to become globally aware, and as I start my life, more exposure to different lives has continued that momentum. As a daughter of a mother who is from South Korea, I have learned so much from her and about Korean culture. I have had the exposure that many people I know do not experience. I hear the language, speak with the people, and visit their country. The exposure my mother has given me is the initial push to go out into the world myself, learn conventions different from mine, and gain as a person from it.”
Through the Church – “Through my mother’s church consisting of a Korean congregation, I have met people who are similar to me who were born in the U.S with a parent or two from Korea, I have met students attending school through a VISA, and even people who have emigrated to the U.S permanently. As a church, we have volunteered at homeless shelters to cook meals and also volunteered at retirement homes to give instrumental entertainment and massages to the older folk. In my mind, these are small steps that my mother has given me to expand my scope of different people and develop compassion which I believe are baby steps to global awareness.”
Through the Shelter – “Cooking, then sitting and eating with the homeless has shown me at a young age that they are simply just people who are trying to get by. Many had kids and through their mannerisms, you could just tell that that child is their whole world. It makes me think that there are more like them but in even worse conditions around the world, such as countries that are underdeveloped and have governments that do not protect its people, or does little to nothing to help them.”
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...and check out Sunny’s plans– “To put this awareness to good use, my plan starts now as I 
prepare for my future. It is truly put into motion when I am financially able to travel to other countries and learn more through my experiences and interactions. In my future career, I plan to finish up at MCC and during the waiting period for their nursing program, I will go to Korea and teach English and probably take some cultural classes. In my time there I want to travel to other Asian countries nearby and get the full experience. From that journey, I hope to learn something that I can take back to my life in the U.S and grow closer to my mother, her family, other Asian-Americans and feel impacted by that visit. I strongly believe that through reaching out to other people, humanity can spread diversity and enhance understanding of other nations such as their economic, environmental, political, and social conventions and work with them symbiotically”
Thank you for your support through the years.
Together We Can
can enable us to truly understand what is not seen by a quick glance but understood with an open mind. The idea of change comes with creativity and acceptance to what is not normal to us. It is not enough to just accept someone but to understand why they think the way they do. …we need to comprehend the cultural differences around the world in order for us to have a broader view of humanity and the issues that are at stake.”
Knowledge shouldn’t come with a cost, but it does. I have graduated, but I am going to finish up my Associates Degree at MCC with the Early College Program and then I plan to transfer to a University to get my bachelor’s degree in accounting or business. With this degree, I hope to make my own business. With my business, I hope to bring different cultures together through art, music, language, and stories. While being able to travel and help people who are who are struggling financially or to people who are not getting enough food and medical assistance. .. To say that I know exactly what I want to happen in the future is absurd because I don’t have all the answers. I only know what I want to happen and if it doesn’t work a certain way I am open for change, but I do have the basic guidelines to how to get where I am going. I think that if we are open to change we are open to possibility and that can take you places.”
in Waverly Iowa. I am enrolled at Wartburg College in the fall of 2018, and plan to pursue their Nursing Program, majoring in neuroscience or biology. Along with this, I plan to minor in Spanish, to incorporate a second language that will be beneficial for me in the medical field. While I plan to achieve all of this, I plan to travel through Wartburg’s Study Abroad Program as well as participate in many service trips each year that are across America. After research and talking to the head of Spanish at Wartburg, I am very interested in going on our Costa Rica study abroad trip. This trip is new to Wartburg and is for students pursuing both Spanish and Nursing. While in Costa Rica I will get to work in their health care system at a hospital as well as being able to use my second language.”
11:59 PM. Please go 
