A study abroad trip to Japan recently gave four University of Guelph-Humber students an unexpected opportunity to turn their recent lessons on global citizenship into action.
Jocelyn Lambton, David Racioppa, Deryn Sherk and Danielle Stevens were spending a free day during their trip at Tokyo’s famous DisneySea resort. While aboard a spinning bumper-car type water ride, someone noticed that Racioppa had dropped some money from his pocket. He quickly gathered up the change, but after leaving the ride, another student pointed out that there was a bill floating in the water that must have also been his. Only after park staff carefully helped recover the bill did Racioppa and his friends realize that the bill was far larger than any he had been carrying – 10,000 Yen, in fact, which is roughly $110 in Canadian currency.
Given that it was now too late to find the rightful owner of the bill, Lambton made a suggestion that resonated with everyone in the group – they could divide the bill up into smaller denominations and distribute the money to homeless people on the streets of Tokyo.
“It was a team effort that required quite a bit of luck,” Racioppa explained.
And the act of generosity was directly inspired by what the students were in Japan to study.
“Learning about global citizenship inspired us to give the money to the homeless people, as part of the definition of a global citizen is being sensitive to the suffering of others and feeling responsible to take action to help them,” Sherk said.
“Since we met with students and people from countries like Korea, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Austria and of course Japan, the concepts of valuing diversity and appreciating interconnectedness echoed those experiences.”
Directed by Family and Community Social Services Program Head Dr. Paul Sherman, the Study Abroad course in Japan largely centred on an exploration of Soka education, or the humanistic self-empowerment philosophy of living that promotes the idea that individual happiness and global harmony can be attained by creating value in one’s own life as well as the lives of others.
The course included visits to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Kyoto and Osaka, as well as participation in illuminating classes at Soka University.
The students cherished their experiences. Their fond memories include a chance meeting with a group of excited young Japanese kids at a train station who treated the UofGH contingent like celebrities, as well as of course the meaningful lessons learned at Soka University. In fact, Sherk keeps in touch daily with a Soka student she met on the trip.
Clearly, Soka teachings on happiness, harmony and interconnectedness resonated.
“The students told me this amazing story the day we were departing Japan for home,” Dr. Sherman said. “I felt that it fittingly brought a level of closure to the entire study abroad experience, and was happy that these students could relate in such a personal and meaningful way what they had learned from the course.
“Global citizenship is principally about developing awareness, responsibility, and engagement for creating value in our own lives and in the lives of distant others we don't even know. I was so encouraged by the way these students manifested this perspective through their lived experience on study abroad.”
The students, meanwhile, only hope for further opportunities to make a positive contribution.
“I think almost everything we did gave us a new perspective on many things,” Sherk said. “For me, it inspired me to become more of a global citizen.”
