Kelly Cigolotti's Story
“Instead of international, we should say global”.
This quote is from a facilitator on our first day of seminars. Her reasoning of not using the term “international” is that it implies that we are all from nations and, right now, there are people without nations or displaced or seeking asylum. During my two-week trip to Austria, we made global connections that had a profound impact on how I view social services and the field I am working in.
On June 1st, I departed Nova Scotia to travel to Linz, Austria for ‘International Days of Social Work’. This program hosted a number of schools and students from many different cultures and countries across the world. It was a global gathering of those in social services related fields sharing their experiences, programs, ideas, and opinions. I have travelled quite a few times in the past but I had never been to Austria and I was nervous about networking with those who were already working toward their Bachelors and Masters of Social Work. As I was most nervous about networking, I found that skill to the one I worked on the most while attending this program. Everyone was so eager to learn and share that I found it easy to meet like-minded individuals.
The opportunity to develop cross-cultural understanding is what drew me to the program in the first place. Our group from NSCC was able to interact with students and professionals from a multitude of different countries and cultures. We spoke about local and global issues we were all experiencing and came to the realization that the social issue we are all dealing with in our own countries are very similar to those in others. We were able to learn and share approaches and ideas with professionals and students with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. This information is invaluable in this field because networking and sharing knowledge is how we continue to move forward in the social services field.
Austria was beautiful and, while most people spoke English, having a small amount of German vocabulary was very helpful. I enjoyed the landscapes and the public transportation was on a whole different level to what we have in Nova Scotia. The food was amazing and I can’t count the number of times I had Schnitzel. I really enjoyed my experience travelling abroad and I feel so fortunate I was able to participate in this once in a life time opportunity!