My name is Arielle Chaifetz. I’m 17 years old and from Manhattan, New York. I am currently at the Beacon High school in Midtown. Being a senior, I am allowed to sign up for classes that interest me the most. Therefore, I signed up for Environmental Politics as a history class and African American Literature as an English class. My interests in these two subjects were enhanced greatly after my Global Routes trip to Tanzania. I gained a new perspective on the world around me and how vastly different people can live from what we are so used to. One of the major aspects of traveling that I learned from my past summer in Tanzania was that these differences between American and African culture, or 1st world and 3rd world culture, are NOT a bad thing. For example, while the customs and way of life carried out by my home-stay family in Tanzania were unusual and sometimes outdated for me, for them, their way of life does not necessitate any change at all. This ideology led me down a different path where environmental issues are not as grey, rather creating a more right and wrong situation, where change is necessary. In addition, having experienced both African and American culture, I thought taking a class that studied African-American literature and its authors would be extremely interesting. Furthermore, my Global Routes trip has really carried on to every aspect of my life and I would love to go on another one soon.
