One of the things I love about being at an international university is the various people, cultures, and countries I'm exposed to. For instance, this week the University of Glasgow hosted author Ahlam Bsharat who was in the UK to accept an award for her mid-grade Code Name: Butterfly about a young girl living in occupied Palestine. Ahlam herself is Palestinian and doesn't speak much English, so classmate Suzanne translated her Arabic for us... "Us" being about 20 students from every corner of the globe. I'm pretty sure at least 20 countries were represented in the audience alone.And that's what makes opportunities like these so important. It reminds us of the harsh conditions some people have to deal with, and makes them human and their situations real to us. It's hard to hate a country when you have friends there. And indeed, I now have friends all over the world. This is how PEACE grows.
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