This semester, I decided to take a class offered through Students Teaching Students (STS) called “Act Now for a Sustainable Future.” Despite its course ID — BA 397 — it is not business administration-related. Its instructors, Nora Van Horn and Madison Mitchell, have geared it around global issues like health equity, environmental justice, and global citizenship and how they affect local issues. It’s an incredible class, and I’m glad I decided to take it.

Part of the course’s grading structure requires students to engage in coffee chats with classmates and professionals in the community. This is the only class I have ever taken at Penn state which deliberately encourages students to interact with each other (virtually or safely in-person, of course), but interactions like the one I had this weekend make me very glad it does. On Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to catch-up with and learn more about a classmate — Huiyi (Lilly) Li — while enjoying some coffee. We met up in the UPUA office in the HUB, where I was happy to show her around the different parts of the office. We began by talking about her and her interests. I learned that she studies Education and Public Policy in the College of Education, and serves as a member of the College of Education’s Student Council. 

Since Lilly is a first-year international student, the transition to the United States (and Penn State as a whole) has been a difficult one. From her experience, I learned that one of the biggest differences between the United States and her home in Beijing, China is diversity. “In China,” she explained, “racial problems aren’t big issues because there just isn’t diversity in that way.” I also learned that many people in China regard Western culture as being, in her words, “better and as if we have to learn from them.” She told me this indicated a lack of confidence in Chinese culture, which I told her was a shame considering the sheer beauty of the culture in so many ways. She told me that she wants to help reinstill some of that cultural confidence. 

Lilly also told me that she likes to listen to the stories of others. Responding to the age-old question of “what gets you out of bed in the morning,” Lilly told me “objectively, it’s because I have class. I’d rather just sleep.” You could say Lilly and I have this in common. “Long-term, though, I know I need to work now and gain my education now to achieve my dreams.” She told me she wanted to be a psychological counselor. She went deeper, though, and my admiration expanded tenfold. I admire that she, for example, wants to pursue that career to help international students like herself connect with others in the United States and feel at home. That level of empathy stood out to me as it does in the likes of Mr. Rogers, which I told her.

Since we were in the UPUA office, I told her about a program Aphrodite Biswas, Lexy Pathickal, and I helped to create last year called “Penn State Pals.” The program — which is run by the UPUA and the International Student Council with the support of the Office of Global Programs — helps incoming international students with the transition process to University Park. I told her this would be a fantastic way to collaborate in the future. 

By serving as a mentor to incoming students, she can gain real-life experience doing what she wants to do through the student government: helping students connect with others, learn about the campus they live on, and celebrate the traditions of Penn State. Before she left, I gave her a copy of the 2019-2020 Student Handbook (S-Book), as well as “Conserving Mount Nittany: A Dynamic Environmentalism” by Thomas Shakely of the Mount Nittany Conservancy. She seemed very grateful for the books and discussion. I was very grateful to have made a new friend and connect with her in such a meaningful way.