Abigail Glover: Looking through a Lens

To quote the best character from Princess Bride, Inego Montoya, “Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” When people ask me about my trip to Scotland I don’t know what to tell them. Not because the trip was bad, or uneventful. My lack of knowing what to say comes from the fact that so much happened. However, one of my main takeaways from study abroad was the ability to see things from other people's perspective. One of my roommates was from Sweden, another was from Germany, one was born in Hawaii but goes to school in San Diego, and another roommate was from Las Vegas. During my time living with these girls, I learned that even in the United States, there is a difference among people. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived. This was probably for the best as I didn’t come in with many preconceived notions about the people I would meet.

Everyone that I met for the most part, was nice and genuinely didn’t care that I was American. They just wanted to connect with me as a person. This is something I loved, so now I try to have the same mindset when I meet new people from a different country. I have noticed that this technique has allowed me to view people as individuals instead of a stereotype based on a certain country. I have realized that one of the most labeling questions to ask is where someone is from. When I asked people about themselves first before asking where they are from, I noticed that I was less likely to automatically label that person based on their country.

One time, I was at a bus station at two A.M. The man who was there started asking me questions- not being creepy, just curious as I did not have a Scottish accent. He asked where I was from and I said “America”. As soon as I said America, he looked at me and said something along the lines of “every American is racist and fat”. Everyone else I had met was nice and asked questions politely to get to know about America and me. Therefore, what that man had said wasn’t necessarily mean, it just caught me off guard to have someone say that. I answered his questions as politely as I could. I told him that my family actually gets a lot of our food locally or grow it ourselves. I also explained that not all Americans are racist. However, I couldn’t expect him to know any better as all he had seen was the America that is portrayed in the news which is a racist and fat group of people.

I began to understand that people could not be held solely responsible for their views on America. In turn, I also expanded my views on others. I learned to be kind with others as you don’t know what they are going through. My roommates and I got into a few disagreements on topics such as: relationships, and politics. However, one of our bigger arguments was about partying. I am not a person who goes out partying. I personally do not enjoy that kind of environment unless I am with close friends that I trust. This argument truly began when my roommates would go out partying and invite me. I would say no, but felt that they were upset that I didn’t want to get to know them. This of course was not true. I did want to get to know them, but not in that setting. We ended up settling on meeting almost everyday for breakfast or dinner in the cafeteria. This was our compromise as we could still talk and get to know each other, but without all the partying and drinking. I slowly began to see that the partying was just their way of getting to know people.

Due to my friends from these other countries, I learned just how similar people are and how everyone just wants to belong to something. Everyone in Scotland had a pride for their country, but above all, they just wanted to fit in and be treated kindly. This is why I say I do not ask people what country they are from at first without knowing anything else as if I categorize them based on their country, it is harder to identify our similarities. I want everyone I talk to, to feel that we can belong so I try to focus more on our similarities than our differences. I would love to be able to bring this mindset into my classroom. I want all of my students to feel included and welcome as soon as they enter my classroom. I want them to focus on their similarities and to not hide differences, but to know that when there are differences that they won’t divide us.

I am from Westminster, South Carolina. I studied at Stirling University during Fall 2024. I am a Junior Special Education major.