pursuit of a transnational mindset
As a white female born in Rock Hill, South Carolina, raised in the same town, and rarely branching out from those with whom I spent my time growing up, I knew little about the world and the people in it beyond my Southern American bubble. I never truly recognized or was exposed to the stark differences that lie beyond the borders of our world. That was until I was met with them within my hometown. My parents became involved in United International Ministries when I first entered high school, bringing in several French students to our home each semester for the rare experience of spending time with an American family during their exchange semesters at Winthrop University.
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Despite France being one of the nations closer to the United States’ culture in many ways, at the least, in comparison to the rest of the globe, I was stunned by the revelation that someone living in the same age and on the same globe as I can live such a vastly different life. This exposure sparked my attempt at understanding as best I could the cultures that I will never have the opportunity to grow up in, hence my living in the International House at the University of South Carolina (UofSC) and my studying International Business and the French language. The Maxcy International House once again brought cultures that I had previously known by their American stereotypes to my front door…literally. My first semester in university, I had the absolute pleasure to live with a student from Taiwan who quickly became my best friend. Through my roommate, I not only was introduced to Asian and Taiwanese culture and the differences it held against my own, but also how similar she and I were. My former roommate and I continue to call each other sisters, because we both feel that truly, despite being brought up thousands of miles from one another in completely different cultures and speaking different languages, there was a familiarity between us that one only has with family. My second semester, I lived with a student from Austria, a place I knew little about. This semester taught me that I do not know the surface of what there is to discover about the world, another means of saying that I had not yet broken out of my American bubble.
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The Maxcy International House is known for hosting events with students within the dorm, both internationals and Americans. Attached above is a photograph from an out-of-class event that was hosted by the Maxcy International House, where I met many international students from around the world. One notable event hosted by the dorm that I attended over my first year of university was a lecture by Viet Max. The Maxcy International House hosts a visiting fellow each year, all of which are generally prominent actors from around the world who visit UofSC to give lectures and spend time with the students at Maxcy. My first year in university, Viet Max, a Vietnamese cultural figure, came to UofSC to speak of the modern Vietnam. Max spoke of the United States’ perception of Vietnam resulting from the way in which we depict the nation in the American education system: an ancient and highly traditional nation that dodged globalization due to its involvement in war. Contrarily, Vietnam has vastly changed into a modern, globalized nation as Viet Max spoke about. Max is an actor in many popular Vietnamese films and a judge on Vietnam’s Got Talent. He is particularly influential in the hip-hop scene in Vietnam. Max’s lecture and speaking with him in groups had a tremendous effect on me, demonstrating how greatly both my education and limited exposure to a culture has altered my perspective on an entire nation.
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Before starting my internationally based courses beginning my second year, I received a job as an au pair (a nanny who lives in the family’s home) in Christchurch, New Zealand. Needless to say, taking the action to go somewhere far different from my hometown, live with a family varying largely from my own, and being around no other Americans radically affected my once strictly American mindset on life, people, and the world. I felt as if I had married my inherent American mindset with the newly discovered New Zealander perception of life.
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Upon my return to the US, I began my courses in International Business, IBUS 310: Globalization and Business being the first to introduce the term “Transnational Mindset”. The major that I came into college thinking would be interesting was proven to encompass so many of the concepts and information that I had been searching for, I was enthralled by the readings. IBUS 310 is taught by one professor who I can confidently say sparked my desire to not only understand nations, their peoples, and cultures, but become a citizen of the world. To seek and find beauty in the similarities and differences between cultures and to understand how they work together to create the world that we live in today. The same year, I joined Passport Playlist as a host, a weekly radio station turned podcast featuring a different international student or faculty at UofSC discussing their nation, culture, and experience in the United States as a student and in life. The people interviewed all both perceived the questions asked and spoke about their culture and experience here in the US far differently. Everyone has a limited perspective on life due to their culture and I am no exception. Further, taking the course IBUS 433: Economic Leadership and the Transnational Mindset introduced to me the idea of how to effectively lead globally across differing cultures and nations, comprised of one's role in current international conflicts riddling our world such as war and lack of resources, deciding how multinationals should face the many cultures making up their business, and understanding what leads individuals to act as they do.
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A key artifact existing as a critical element in my observation of the limitations faced as an American was a negotiation that took place in my MGSC 487: Global Sourcing Strategies course. Above is the rough outline written by my group after being tasked with behaving as Russian businessmen during the negotiation. Therefore, my group took on the task of studying Russia’s cultural and societal norms as well as proper business practices. We then performed a negotiation with a group acting as Mexico, demonstrating the significance of understanding mindsets and culture within business practices, which will be of great help when entering the International Business field.
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These experiences both within the classroom and beyond confirmed the knowledge of my incredibly limited mindset and continues to reinforce my desire to expand it, to view life and all its contents with an unbiased mindset, free from the limitations of my growing up in the Southern United States. These limitations must first be recognized to further be expanded.