Rodrigo Cortez
International Student Cultural Association
Once arrived at Santa Fe College, I decided to interact more with international students and to open my mind to new cultures and ideas. Santa Fe offered me a perfect environment to meet people from other countries who were willing to share time and knowledge about their cultures. After looking for one semester, I found I.S.C.A, the International Student Cultural Association, which promotes people’s cultures and organize international events at Santa Fe. It was the perfect place to learn more about other countries and to create awareness of mine.
After participating in international nature events such as Chinese, Arabic, Latin or European buffets or celebrations of international holidays I enriched my awareness of other countries and cultures. Additionally, this events gave me a firsthand involvement with people with different backgrounds. After being an active member of the organization for one semester, I was elected treasurer of it. During my term as a treasurer, we organized a trip with an international subject to EPCOT. It is an international theme park in Disneyworld, Orlando that has diverse settings from different countries such as Spain, Morocco, England, China, and Germany. Naturally, organizing and participating in this trip allowed me to see and learn more about these countries without going abroad. I.S.C.A. not only gave me an excellent environment to enrich my knowledge about other cultures, but also it helped me to develop my leadership skills and to learn how to interact with people of different backgrounds. Having international awareness is essential for my personal development.
Thanks to my contributions to the club and my passion about international subjects, I became the vice-president of the organization in fall 2013. While being the vice-president, I helped the president to organize and recruit members for our meetings. During this term we increased the number of members involved in the club activities and meetings.
Overall, I have positive experiences in the club spending time with international students. I met people from China, Venezuela, Ghana, Benin, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Kuwait, and Korea who taught me about their cultures and manners.
