reflection – Ola Wysocki

Third Culture Kids: The Key to Cracking the Global Communication Question?

Posted on January 15, 2022May 13, 2022 by Ola Wysocki in coursework

written as a reflection for my Global & Multicultural Audiences and Stakeholders course

In my own words, a simplified definition of the word culture is a group of people who share context. This context is made up of language, rituals, shared stories, traditions, values, and life experiences. I can understand why there are several models used to classify cultures to compare them and why they often stay at a national level. Dimensions such as “power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long-/short-term orientation, and indulgence vs. restraint” are just some of the categories that the intricate shared context should be able to fall into to better describe them (De Mooij, 2019). But what happens when a culture is made up of people who seemingly cannot fit perfectly into one of those dimensions?

“A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background” (Pollock 2017). Before exploring the concept of TCKs, I struggled with the concept of culture, specifically how it worked into my identity, especially because I’ve often found that cultural identity was also (perhaps mistakenly) tied with the question “Where are you from?”

Whenever I’m in Poland, strangers are surprised to learn that I’m from Chicago. I can pass as a ‘native’ Pole because of my ability to speak fluently and my knowledge of history, literature and popular culture. I share that ‘specific context’ with people born and raised in Poland in many ways. However, my relatives and friends in Poland half-joke how I am the only legitimate amerykanka (American), as I am the sole member of the family to be born in the United States. I am not fully Polish in their eyes, and I’ve had this sort of defensive complex about it since then. The conversation does come up sometimes, and I often felt the need to prove myself to be more Polish when I’m in Poland vs. when I’m back in Chicago or elsewhere.

That being said, to my American friends and acquaintances, I am the Polish friend. I’m the friend who has a myriad of “foreign” goodies in my fridge and pantry, who has family in Europe, and who sneaks Polish rap into our shared playlists. While I am an American because of my birthplace, accent and environment, I often joked I have a bit of “horseradish spice” because of my strong connection to my Slavic heritage.

I couldn’t make all of the dimensions of one or the other align and I often felt like I had to choose one or the other to identify myself depending on my audience. It took being in a space removed from both of these spheres to help me recognize that while I identified with “symbols, rituals, heroes, and values” in both of cultures, I’d inadvertently created my own third culture in the process (De Mooij 2019, Pollock 2017). This overlap helped me find universality in an Irish pub in Rome, Italy, of all places.

Allow me to explain: yes, it was an Irish pub where English was spoken, but it was also where the expatriate community of Rome would come together, including some fellow TCKs. This global watering hole was more than a bar, it was a gathering place for people from all walks of life from the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Iran, South Africa, and Turkey and exhibiting various levels of nomadic experiences. In the end, it didn’t matter where we came from. Like them, I wasn’t Roman or Italian, I didn’t feel particularly fully welcomed into the Polish culture my parents were from, and I wasn’t just American, where I grew up: I was accepted as a person with all of these dynamic identities and none of them felt the need to categorize me because of certain dimensions. I wasn’t just the Polish girl, just the amerykanka; I was Ola.

This Ola they knew happened to live in Rome, speak Italian without a heavy American accent because of her Polish lanaguage skills. This Ola had an idea of how to “act European” because of her experiences in familial Poland, but she was also “extroverted, excitable and friendly, like an American.” I didn’t have to be one or the other for this audience, and instead, we created a third-culture of expats in our chosen home in the Eternal City. I have a strong camaraderie with these individuals, and despite being shaped by our diverse life experiences, those differences pale in comparison to our bond of being mutual outsiders that couldn’t find their place in the world- together.

We do know that culture has a significant impact on communication with regards to how we develop, transmit and receive messages. While I think there is a strong argument in saying a global communication strategy can’t possibly exist because of all of the variables multiculturalism and diversity have, I do believe that TCKs can be key to understanding and potentially developing global communication plans, because of their paradoxical identities. Pollock reinforces this, saying “looking at the differences among them — of race, nationality, sponsoring organizations, and place where they….have grown up– you would think TCKs could have little in common… and yet they are a ….reunion of strangers” (Pollock 2017). As the world continues to shrink because of globalization, perhaps communication professionals can learn from TCKs and recreate the universality of finding home.

Works Cited

De Mooij. M. K. (2019). Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes.

Pollock, D. C., & E., V. R. R. (2017). Third culture kids: the experience of growing up among worlds. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Globalization: Can Tuning Into Turkish TV Change Polish Attitudes?

Posted on January 8, 2022May 6, 2022 by Ola Wysocki in coursework

written as a reflection for my Global & Multicultural Audiences and Stakeholders course

Globalization seems difficult to define, and yet it’s a buzzword that’s been inundating my coursework since my undergraduate years. I equate the textbook definition of globalization to integration and the interdependence of the world’s politics, economies, and cultures. It’s a result of cross-border trade and the rapid rise and development of technology. That makes it sound simple and almost clinical, but I find it incredible just how pervasive this phenomenon is in our lives.

As we’ve learned from Friedman and Florida, our actions in our part of the world do not end at our borders and vice versa. Because of the web reinforced by globalization, it is almost impossible to be truly isolated from the effects of world events. We’ve all felt this in our everyday lives, especially last year with a new virus appearing in seemingly-distant China or even something as bizarre as the Ever Given (the gift that kept on giving on Twitter) container ship becoming stuck in the Suez Canal (Shackelford, 2021). While those could be considered major events, globalization does not always have an immediate or serious magnitude.

My mind wanders to my family’s hometown, Augustów. Poland overall is somewhat regarded as a success story, at least economically, among the former Soviet-bloc countries. It did well after officially doing away with communism in 1989, and “while the rest of Europe fell into recession following the start of the global crisis in 2008, Poland kept growing” (Cienski, 2019). Augustów, however, is a bit of a different story. It is in the less-industrialized Podlaskie region, not too far from the borders of Belarus, Lithuania, and the Kaliningrad exclave. While the popular resort town, surrounded by lakes and forests, boasts around 30,000 residents, it can often feel like a village, especially in mentality and in terms of economic development. The day Augustów opened up its first and only McDonald’s in 2019, my relatives joked that we may become a destination in the world just yet.

Reading Wojtczak’s article specifically, I thought of the experience of watching foreign television shows while in Poland. There have been many examples throughout the years, but the most recent that stands out in my mind are my older female relatives and their love for soap operas, especially Turkish ones. The canon of Polish telenovelas is already well-established and many series have incredibly long runs, but lately, Turkish soaps have dominated Polish public television, so much so that my babcia (grandmother) and ciocia (aunt) unceremoniously kicked me out of our small living room from an afternoon international soccer friendly match to watch an episode of Elif.

I didn’t find myself baffled about their fervor, as I’d been used to sacrificing the screen to many a soap, including a dubbed version of The Bold and the Beautiful; what took me by surprise was seeing them so interested in a Turkish production. It had puzzled me, and almost seemed hypocritical, just given the anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic rhetoric from the far-right ruling Law and Justice party, which many folks from rural regions align themselves with. As a reference, a study was done regarding the attitude of Poles towards refugees from the 2015 crisis in Europe and there was a striking opposition for entry of refugees, specifically from the Middle East and Africa and the sentiment has not changed drastically since (Dudzińska, Kotnarowski 2019). From personal experience, I know people who joked about the McDonald’s opening that balked at the opening of doner kebab shops in our town because the owners were Arab (although I will note, younger generations of Poles enjoy the food especially in the early hours of the mornings).

These brief notes oversimplify the situation, but the hypocritical cultural paradox does reveal “complex and hidden ongoing cultural processes” as Wojtczak discusses (Wojtczak, 2020). Poles don’t view the shows as an invasion of Turkish or Arabic culture; instead, they enjoy the shows because of the handsome cast, the intrigue, the costumes (if the show is a period piece), and the way they conservatively approach romance, rather than show nudity or wild sex scenes. Despite many liberal changes that came with the fall of communism, the people in power in Poland are strong proponents of Catholic, conservative values. Something that Wojtczak iterates is that culture is dynamic (Wojtczak, 2020). This reading and my reflections on my own experiences had me thinking- does culture change because of globalization, or is globalization propelled by shifts within a culture? Perhaps even something as seemingly inconsequential as a soap opera may make closed-minded Poles think twice in the future… it may just need a bit more time. Tune in sometime in the future.

Works Cited

Cienski, J. (2019, January 8). Poland’s transformation is a story worth telling. POLITICO. https://www.politico.eu/article/poland-transformation-economic-success/

Dudzińska, Kotnarowski. (2019, July 24). Imaginary Muslims: How the Polish right frames Islam. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/research/imaginary-muslims-how-polands-populists-frame-islam/

Shackelford, E. (2021, April 9). What a stranded container ship showed us about globalization. Chicago Tribune, Section 1, p. 19.Wojtczak, R. & Venter, B. (2020). Understanding globalization through cultural paradoxes: Chinese youth and “2 Broke Girls.” China Media Research, 16(1), 18-29.

Committing to justice in advertising

Posted on August 10, 2021July 17, 2022 by Ola Wysocki in coursework

written as an assignment for my Special Topics; Ethics in Advertising course

The following work looks at six different organizations’ websites which involve pages and statements dedicated to their missions in regards to social justice and areas of social awareness.

Loyola University Chicago
The first organization I chose was my alma mater and current place of employment, Loyola University Chicago (LUC). Loyola is a private, Jesuit, Catholic university, so it would be categorized as a higher education institution. Its “headquarters” would be the main campus, the Lake Shore Campus, located at the border of the Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods on the Far North Side of Chicago. This statement was found on the university’s website, specifically on the About page of a section titled, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” The statement is not dated specifically. Some highlights of the copy (full statement available at the link above) are as follow:

“Our Shared Commitment”

“… fosters transformative cultural experience that honors diversity and social justice”
“… Jesuit Catholic heritage is founded in equality”
“… commitment to diversity comes from Ignatius himself and the belief that God is to be found in the “other”- in the person, the place, the culture, the context and the human experience that differs from one’s own”
“… principle embraces inclusivity, mutual respect, inherent freedoms, and the dignity of giving each perspective a voice”
“…ambassadors of change”
“…our social responsibility in challenging times”
“Our end goal… is not simply a representation of the beauty of “otherness,” of diversity”
“…commitment to inclusion”

The values addressed in this statement feature prominently in these highlights, and they include Jesuit ideals surrounding social justice and social awareness, inclusivity, respect, dignity and unity. The statement obviously addresses diversity and that it enhances the university’s atmosphere, emphasizing that “each member of our student, faculty, and staff community brings their own unique perspectives, strengths, and critical inquiries to serve our mission.” It does however, directly address race, gender, or sex. It also does not add any specific mentions to other areas of social awareness, such as the environment, but I believe this is because (at least in the case of sustainability/climate matters) Loyola has a dedicated school (The School of Environmental Sustainability) for this particular matter and has particular initiatives and commitments regarding this.

Generally, and I recognize my bias as an undergraduate alumna and current staff and graduate student, I believe Loyola does try to both promote social justice and raise social awareness through its academics, programs, and opportunities presented to students, faculty and staff throughout all of its campuses. I think this statement leans in heavily on how natural the connection between Jesuit/Catholic values are with regards to the social justice aspect of diversity. It has a tone that is a matter of fact, but not condescending or holier-than-thou, more so letting the audience know that “these are things that are naturally aligning with our overall mission and identity.”

Looking at one of the most recent marketing campaigns, pre-pandemic, there were several ads throughout the Chicagoland area featuring Loyola students with the slogan “We Are Called to ______,” either “Solve, Venture, Protect, Redefine, Activate or Advocate.” The ad included portraits of a multicultural group of students, 3 male representations and 3 female representations. Each ad would feature one of these students with one of the aforementioned attributes, looking towards wherever the source of the dramatic lighting behind the camera was, thus making them seem inquisitive.

There is a wide variety of resources and initiatives on campus: diversity committees, themes of diversity embedded in the core curriculum and major-related courses, the Department of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (SDMA) which promotes multicultural education as well as affinity peer groups and mentorship programs for underrepresented students, just to name a few. There is now an Office for Diversity and Inclusion and looking at its site, it shares annual diversity reports. As of 2019, it shows that collective practices university-wide have “increased University composition to 37.7%.” While it’s not a huge jump, I do believe it is a start and I believe the university recognizes that there’s still work to do, saying that it recognizes it must continue to create and foster diversity efforts

Apple
Apple is an American, multinational company in the technology industry that specializes in electronics and online services. Based in Cupertino, California, not too far from San Jose, it is the world’s largest tech company, and arguably one of the most valuable public corporations in the world. They specialize in products such as phones, tablets, computers, smart TVs, watches and a variety of software. It has a high level of brand loyalty, with about 1.65 billion Apple products in use worldwide (Clover, 2021). This statement was found when I scrolled towards the bottom of the main page of Apple’s website, under a section titled, Apple Values- Inclusion and Diversity.” Some of the highlights include:

“We’re All In”

“Commitment to making our company more inclusive and the world more just. Where every great idea can be heard. And everybody belongs.”
“… becoming a better reflection of the world we live in”
“…. and there’s a lot in the works. And much more to do.”
“Inclusion and diversity are cornerstones of the global Apple community. We’re proud of the foundation we’ve built, and we’re clear-eyed about the challenges that remain. Together, we’re committed to continuing this journey with humility and resolve.”– Barbara Whye, VP of Inclusion and Diversity

From the web page highlighting this general approach to Diversity and Inclusion, it shows that Apple values community, inclusivity, representation, being true/authentic, and individuality. While not explicitly mentioned in the general copy, there seems to be a comprehensive look at diversity, looking at gender, sex, race, and ethnicity, when looking throughout the webpage, specifically the statistics that are included. Additionally, the page mentions initiatives for enduring change in research and development, including those regarding “cyber threats, hiring practices, pay equity, allyship, racial representation and female representation.”

While no organization is perfect, Apple seems to put in a genuine effort in terms of both talking the talk and walking the walk, however, this is definitely debatable. Although the numbers regarding diversity at Apple are showing positive progression, the company still has a majority of its employees identifying as both white and male. The Verge also came out with an article about workplace issues, a leak to the public about the “discrepancy between problems and Apple’s ‘carefully managed public image and commitment to diversity” (Schiffer, 2021). Even if gossip or tabloid rumors, it does not instill a lot of confidence in the authenticity they seem to value.

Additionally, Apple has been in hot-water in the past for its sweatshop labor and overall difficult working conditions, most notably leading to employee suicides in Asia. I think while this statement is well-intentioned and does have legitimate small successes regarding “progress” to share, being highly valued (both monetarily and by its loyal consumers), Apple could invest and act more tangibly at a quicker pace than many other organizations.

Starbucks
Starbucks is a global, public corporation, consisting of a multinational chain of coffeehouses and its special roastery reserves. It is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, where it was founded in 1971 but has retail locations in over 80 countries around the world. Starbucks specializes in coffee drinks, teas, baked goods, and coffee ware. It is currently ranked 125th on the annual Fortune 500 list. This statement regarding diversity was found in its Starbucks’ Stories and News posts, dated October 2020. The following highlights are from this particular post:

“Our commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity at Starbucks”

“We are on a journey to advance racial and social equity for our partners (employees), our community, and our society”
“We set out to be a different company”
“… bold actions that we must take as our journey continues, to act with intention, transparency, and accountability”
“… it is grounded in our mission to inspire and nurture the human spirit. It is our responsibility and it is our commitment.”

The post demonstrates Starbucks’ values for its community, which includes transparency, accountability, intentionality and inclusivity. Its tone is inspirational, but simultaneously seems humble and down-to-earth. Diversity is explicitly named, with mentions of social and racial equity, Starbucks’ BIPOC mentorship programs, Black Partner Network, and other organizations. They have a separate section on their website for environmental causes, and past posts in the News section celebrate Pride Month/the LGBTQIA+ community, disability awareness, equitable access to food, allyship, and access to education, to name a few. Overall, they, at least in words, have a pretty good sense of the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

That being said, Starbucks has had notable racial bias and discrimination issues in the past, including the Race Together Campaign that faced a lot of backlash, the 2018 incident in Philadelphia where two Black men were handcuffed and arrested by Philadelphia Police after an employee called them, and most recently, employees were told they were not allowed to show visible support for or wear Black Lives Matter (BLM) gear at work (Beer, 2020). These three incidents and their impacts are interesting. The reason Starbucks received so much backlash for that Race Together campaign, where employees were given the option of writing “Race Together” on customers’ coffee cups to help initiate conversation amid racial high racial tensions in the US, because a majority of consumers said the company was “overstepping its boundaries with a campaign on sensitive cultural topics that had no place in the coffee shop’s lines” (Bartlein, 2015), which may be what informed their initial decision on not letting employees don BLM-gear in 2020. The Philadelphia incident, on the other hand, prompted Starbucks nation-wide to close their doors and provide racial-bias training (designed by nationally recognized experts) for its nearly 175,000 U.S. employees (Neuman, 2018).

American Eagle Outfitters/Aerie
American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) is an American clothing and accessories retailer brand, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The public company mainly focuses on athleisure, lingerie, university-themed wear, as well as sleepwear. It has over 1300 stores worldwide and it mainly targets teenagers and college students. This section was found on the Inclusion + Diversity web page on AEO’s website. Highlights from the copy include:

Inclusion + Diversity

“AEO celebrates the diversity of one through the inclusion of many. AEO Inc. and the AE and Aerie brands are a reflection of all of our stakeholders—different ages, abilities, genders, cultures, sexual orientations and identities, and races.”
“Creating an environment where everyone feels respected and empowered is more than just a statement, it is an expectation and part of our core values. We are committed to driving Inclusion & Diversity efforts through three key working groups: hiring, culture and development.”

With these particular quotes in mind, it is clear that AEO’s values are inclusive, social justice-oriented, equal and promote education. Their page explores diversity in terms of ages, abilities, genders, cultures, sexual orientations and identities, and races. They support this by boasting about their mentorship programs and their latest initiative encouraging associates to get the COVID-19 vaccination through education and outreach.

The site reports that between 2018-2020, there was an increase of 40% in persons of color (POC) representation for the American Eagle brand and that in 2020 particularly, 65% of the talent identified as POC. In terms of their workforce, in the United States, about 41% of their retail workers identified as persons of color, while 78% were women, however when looking at their corporate counterparts, an overwhelming 82% identified as white. However, they are not very transparent with their environmental policies and working conditions, which has caused skepticism in the past. Ultimately, on the surface, AEO is considered a fast fashion entity. Not being environmentally friendly, adding to the sustainability issues plaguing, can inadvertently affect communities in need and underrepresented minorities because they are the ones being disproportionately affected by the rising issues brought about by climate change. It sounds like a slippery slope argument, but for a popular brand that seems to be reaching for the gen-z population, it seems short-sighted not to make effective initiatives towards sustainability.

Netflix
Netflix is a public, international production company, specializing in film production, streaming, and film and television distribution. It is headquartered in Los Gatos (part of Silicon Valley), California. With a few exceptions (i.e. mainland China, North Korea, Syria) its contents are available worldwide, coming from both in-house productions and several film and television archive libraries. It currently has over 207 billion subscribers (Stoll, 2021). The following post was on the company’s news page. It includes a statement from Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos and is dated February 2021. Some highlights include:

“Building a Legacy of Inclusion: Results From Our First Film and Series Diversity Study”

“…. we aspired to tell stories that weren’t available elsewhere. Not only in terms of variety we offered, but also the people and cultures we brought to the screen.”
“… we continued to push boundaries — celebrating firsts with talent from traditionally underrepresented communities”
“…. stories… resonated with audiences who rarely saw themselves on screen. We thought we were making progress… but were we really, and was it enough?”
“We are outpacing the industry in hiring women and women of color to direct our films, and women creators to bring our series to life, and we have achieved gender equality in leading roles across our films and series. We have also exceeded proportional representation of Black leads, co-leads and main cast across the two years that were examined.”
“We still have notable representation gaps in film and series for Latinx, Middle Eastern/North African, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander communities. And we still have work to do in increasing representation of the LGBTQ community and characters with disabilities.”
“Doing better means establishing even more opportunities for people from underrepresented communities to have their voices heard, and purposefully closing capacity and skill gaps with training programs where they are needed. So we are excited today to announce the creation of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity.”
“And by better understanding how we are doing, we hope to stimulate change not just at Netflix but across our industry more broadly. “

This by far is probably my favorite posts and statements about diversity and inclusion for several reasons. First and foremost, whether this is the truth or not, by Netflix asking themselves if what they were doing was effective and enough- it puts the onus of improvement on them. They saw the need, they recognized where it fails in terms of lacking in diversity. That sounds a lot more proactive rather than reacting to it. Secondly, they take the take to actually list the different groups of diversity, giving them a name, a space. To be inclusive, even if it seems counterintuitive to single them out, you have to recognize the individual groups. It gives them a sense of importance.

The values seem similar to the organizations previously mentioned, such as inclusivity, improvement, equity and transparency, however, I feel like innovation and creativity are something specific to Netflix. Perhaps that is due to the nature of the entertainment industry they find themselves in, or the innate affinity for storytelling that humans have, but it works well for them. It has specific mentions of racial diversity, the LGBTQIA+ community, female representation and equity, as well as those in the disabled community. While it has tangible, financial initiatives (such as the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity) Netflix has had its criticisms. It was specifically criticized back in 2011 regarding accessibility to captioning for its disabled consumers and as its most recent study shows, while its strengths in diversity lie within the number of females represented cross-company, “other racial and ethnic groups were underrepresented relative to the U.S. population,” along with the LGBTQIA + and disability communities (Boorstin, 2021).

UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is an athletic organization and the governing body of football (soccer) in Europe. It includes all of the representatives of national football teams and club leagues of Europe, as well as their respective competitions and technically falls under the jurisdiction of their “parent company,” the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Though founded in Basel, it is currently headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland. Their sponsors depend on whether it is a national competition or a UEFA Champions League competition, however, to name a few, they include FedEx, Gazprom, Volkswagen, PepsiCo, Heineken, Mastercard and Lay’s. This diversity commitment was found on their website, under a section titled Football and Social Responsibility. Some highlights include:

“Football and Social Responsibility” (FSR)

“Creating positive social impact through football”
“…. core business while contributing to sustainable development in society”
“Positioned under the pillar of Respect, UEFA’s approach to FSR is continuously evolving; aiming to extend and develop social responsibility within UEFA and with national responsibility”

It’s clear from this webpage that UEFA recognizes its audiences and stakeholders, and that a CSR (or FSR in this case) that celebrates multiculturalism is necessary. With this statement, one can surmise that UEFA values inclusivity, solidarity, sustainability and overall, being a member of a greater community. It encourages an inclusive culture, embracing differences within ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, culture, national origin, income, and ability. These different levels of diversity are talked about throughout the different points, even beyond the initial “Diversity and Inclusion,” but also how it affects their work with the environment, health and wellbeing, peace and reconciliation, solidarity, human rights, child safeguarding, and also their relationships with their fans and supporters.

It is probably the most comprehensive and probably most formal statement of all of the organizations analyzed here and part of that also comes down to the culture of Europe as a continental community, but also being under the umbrella of the global FIFA. It’s a huge platform and some of their players are the most famous people in the world, so it makes sense that they try and touch on important social causes, but at the same time, it feels like it’d be difficult to manage authentic and genuine action with these idealistic and lofty goals.

While they do cover a lot of bases, I think that UEFA does show its true colors in moments like the last Euro Cup that concluded about a month ago. To summarize, the English football team lost to the Italians in the final in the penalty kick round. Of the players that went up to kick, three missed their penalty, losing the Cup for England. All three players who missed were Black and faced a backlash of racist abuse (mostly through social media) from British fans (Sullivan, 2021). Many have condemned it, but the only reason the Football Association (of England) is being investigated by UEFA, is because of security breaches on the day of the final at Wembley Stadium where the match was being held (Klosok, 2021). There was no official statement on the racist remarks on the part of UEFA.

Reflection
Reading all of these commitments and pledges reflecting various levels of diversity, I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I can’t help but feel jaded. Companies/organizations and their brands know that nowadays, their consumers demand more from them than just a product or service. Consumers want the organizations and brands they associate with to stand for something. Why is that? We want the things we associate with to be good, positive forces in the world, for the most part, because I think inherently, people feel that these traits help them identify themselves. People want to consume in a way that reflects their values, but how can you tell if an organization is genuinely interested in bettering the world or if they’re just interested in gaining new supporters and retaining their existing consumer base (because of capitalistic self-interest).

It’s a difficult line to walk, but I believe the communicators with a solid foundation of ethical knowledge and a strong moral compass can balance on that line. With this in mind, there is also a part of me that feels excited and proud to live in a time where most folks seem to celebrate diversity and be aware of the existing situations or institutions that need to be changed or updated to “get with the times.” As communication professionals, I think we have a responsibility in the world to use our knowledge, talents, and platforms in order to voice our support or to stand alongside our communities with regards to social justice issues. Despite many instances telling me otherwise, I do truly believe that the world is not a totally apathetic place. There are still passionate people who care about not just doing a job well, but about doing good in the world with it.

Works Cited

Bartlein, L., & Rigby, B. (2015, May 18). Starbucks’ move to Debate race Brews Backlash. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/starbucks-race-backlash_n_6898324.

Beer, T. (2020, June 11). Starbucks bans employees from wearing Black Lives Matter Attire. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/11/starbucks-bans-employees-from-wearing-black-lives-matter-attire/?sh=73fa1fc26dd6.

Boorstin, J. (2021, February 26). Netflix will spend $100 million to improve diversity on film following equity study. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/26/netflix-will-spend-100-million-to-improve-diversity-on-film-following-equity-study.html.

Diversity statement. Loyola University Chicago. (2021). https://www.luc.edu/diversityandinclusion/about/diversitystatement/.

Inclusion + Diversity. AEO Inc. (2021). https://www.aeo-inc.com/inclusion-diversity/.

Klosok, A., & Sinnott, J. (2021, July 13). English FA FACING Uefa investigation over FAN disorder at Euro 2020 final. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/football/england-euro-2020-final-trouble-uefa-disciplinary-proceedings-spt-intl/index.html.

Neuman, S. (2018, May 3). Men arrested in Philadelphia Starbucks reach settlements. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/03/607973546/men-arrested-in-philadelphia-starbucks-reach-settlements.

Sarandos, T. (2021, February 26). Building a legacy of inclusion: Results from our first film and series diversity study. About Netflix. https://about.netflix.com/en/news/building-a-legacy-of-inclusion.

Schiffer, Z. (2021, May 25). Apple employees are going public about workplace issues – and there’s no going back. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/25/22453302/apple-culture-secrecy-leak-antonio-garcia-martinez-letter

Stoll, J. (2021, April 21). Netflix: Number of Subscribers worldwide 2020. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/.

Sullivan, B. (2021, July 12). Three black soccer players are facing racist abuse After England’s Euro 2020 Defeat. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/12/1015239599/prince-william-and-boris-johnson-denounce-the-racist-abuse-of-englands-soccer-te.

UEFA.com. (n.d.). Social responsibility: Inside uefa. UEFA.com. https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/social-responsibility/.

Wherever You Go, Go with all of your heart

Posted on October 7, 2015May 18, 2022 by Ola Wysocki in rome related

written as a part of the #RamblersAbroad blog. As a recipient of a study abroad scholarship, I was chosen to be one of the student bloggers during my year in Rome.

Confucius might have been on to something when he said the quote I’m using the title for this blog.. but I’m getting ahead of myself.

You’ve all heard of Milano, right? What do you think when you hear Milan? Many will say glamorous, stylish fashion capital. For anyone who knows anything about Italy, they could start to throw in some geographical knowledge and might add any familiarity regional stereotypes they might have and say that it’s located in northern Italy in the Lombardia region and that the milanese are sometimes known for being arrogant, cold and efficient in the working world.

If you would have asked me what I thought, I would have said all of the above, but if you asked me whether or not I was dying to visit it, I would have said, “eh.”

Now, before you gasp at my indifference, forget Milano for a second. Along the same lines, what do you think when you hear Cusano Mutri? Many might say what or where or is that a type of pasta? Don’t worry about it, though, because I can tell you that even some Italians don’t know about it.

But what I’m getting at: what do these two places have in common (other than the obvious fact that they’re both in Italy…)?

I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in each of these places the past two weeks. They were as different as night and day.

Cusano Mutri, according to Google, is a commune of the Province of Benevento. It is located in the southern region of Campania and has just a little over 4000 residents. Its biggest party of the year is the Sagra dei Funghi, or mushroom food festival. I, along with 17 other students and two JFRC staff members, traveled down to Cusano for the first weekend of this festival. Needless to say, I was excited, because food festival + mushroom + Italian cuisine = happy Ola.

Why did I chose to go on the Cusano study trip? Other than my obvious love for porcini mushrooms and food in general, the trip seemed different than the other study trips that the JFRC offered. They also advertised hiking and beautiful scenery that included mountains and lakes. I’m a city girl, through and through. The closest I come to nature are the forest preserves that surround Chicago and the forests and lakes that surround my family’s hometown in Poland (and even then, that’s for a leisurely stroll and overall relaxation). Hiking? That’s a challenge. Going to a small town where little to no one that speaks English? That’s a challenge too. I wanted to try something new and give Cusano my all; and I’m so glad I did.

We did indeed hike, along a river and a lake. We learned how to make pasta and gnocchi from one of the head chefs of Lo Suago, the restaurant that was our home base during the sagra. Our SLA Fran gave us a wonderful surprise and we made s’mores under a sky illuminated by the moon and hundreds of stars. My new friend Luis taught me how to dance merengue and salsa as we danced with friendly and welcoming locals in the town’s streets and piazzas. There were spontaneous pickup games of soccer with Romans (also happened to be visiting Cusano), cappuccini and probably the best cornetti con crema I’d ever eaten courtesy of our host, Clementina, and dinosaurs (oh yes, you read correctly- dinosaurs!… okay, it was a museum with some fossils, but one of them WAS a dinosaur fossil).

Truly and genuinely- the trip to Cusano was amazing and I can’t begin to describe how much I loved it. For anyone coming to a future fall semester here at the JFRC; definitely consider going.

Milano, on the other hand, is world-renowned, in a industrialized region of Italy, with a population of over 1.2 million people- and that’s not counting the thousands of tourists and huge events that bring in thousands more such as Milan Fashion Week and, currently, the Universal Exhibition, or Expo 2015. Now, back to my stunning lack of wow factor regarding Milan. Why wasn’t I as ready to embrace Milano as I was with Cusano?

Perhaps it has to do with the idea that it didn’t fit my concept of Europe. I wanted European cities to be charming, rustic, unlike anything I’d ever seen in America. Or perhaps it was being someone who’s been taught the Italian language and culture for almost six years by people who have been from southern or central Italy. Or maybe it’s because most of my neighbors and friends back in Chicago are from Calabria or Sicily. I’m not saying that they have influenced my views on the north negatively, but I guess you could say I’ve always had an affinity for the south probably because that’s the only experience I’ve had with Italian culture up until this point.

Instead of a study trip, myself and two other friends went to Milan on our own this past weekend. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it; but I didn’t initially. Promptly after landing, I remember thinking how expensive this city was going to be, how gray it seemed, how modern it was. I don’t know what it is about me, but when I think of Europe, I used to never think the word modern. Again though, I blame my previous experiences with Europe and by that, I mean my summers in a small town in Poland where my babcia had a small TV with only three channels (although now she’s really upgraded and has 15!).

However, after seeing a ballet at Teatro alla Scala for ONLY 11 euro (the story of how we got those tickets is ridiculous, so if anyone’s dying to know, hit me up), eating absolutely delicious panzerotti at Luini’s (what I would do for another one now that I’m back in Roma..), and sipping on sweet drinks during aperitivo in the artsy neighborhood Naviglis: I fell in love with Milano. It’s hard not to. It’s such a cosmopolitan city and there’s just something about it. I often talk about the vibes I get from certain cities. Milano gave me a good feeling and I was mad at myself for not giving the city the same chance I promised I’d give Cusano, so for that, my dear Milano lovers, I humbly apologize.

I wasn’t ready to give Milan a chance and I already had preconceived notions on what I thought the city was going to be like. I only started enjoying the city when I actually let go of those feelings. I had no expectations of Cusano and was open to experience something new. No matter where you end up with life- go with all of your heart. Be open, NOT SOLELY to new experiences, but to rethink old habits and ideas. Isn’t that the whole point of being abroad? Opening up your mind to new ideas lets you change the way you think and potentially how you view the world. You don’t necessarily have to, but it gives you that option.

I could have easily stuck with my prior ideas of Milano and been unhappy during the trip, but what would have that taught me? And what would have that meant about me? Did I want to be that type of person?

Give every new place a chance- despite what you may have previously heard. You may end up falling in love with it and actually becoming excited at the prospect of one day coming back and learning even more.

Give every new place a chance; especially if you had no prior knowledge of it. You may end up watching a sunrise from the top of a mountain.

Give it a chance, give it your all.

Wherever you go, go with all of your heart.