FEATURE STORY

Searching for Global Literacy
By Christie Jones, M.Ed., M.J.

The blood that flows through her veins connects her to a rich heritage and gives her a deep appreciation for human life in the world. Nicole Osei’s international travels to far off places like Ghana, Belgium, and France have allowed her to view the world through a larger lens than most Americans.

Nicole decided to study political science and international relations at Georgia State University, but her experience yielded different results than she expected. Although Atlanta, Georgia is a bustling metropolis that attracts more than 400 people to move there daily, it still is a place that is drowning in a sea of narrow views, and plain ignorance. “I was the only one who knew who Kofi Anan was in a classroom filled with political science majors, and at that moment I realized how sheltered Americans really are,” said Osei. “At that moment I knew I needed to be back in London.”

She had previously studied in London, but the deep yearning in her heart to be reunited with loved ones led her back to the states. Her broad scope of knowledge about international law and third world countries surpassed her peers, making her feel like a pariah. Going to class was a constant battle trying to force feed new information to people that operated in a segregated world.

The confederate flag adorned cars, homes, and t-shirts; racism, bigotry, and intolerance seemed to be a ritual for the people she encountered in school and throughout the city. To Nicole, people in Atlanta were lacking global literacy, something that was essential to the life a political science major.

It became very difficult for Nicole to understand her peers’ resistance to her global perspectives. “I felt so misunderstood because my world views were alien to them.” Disgusted with her experience at Georgia State, Nicole ventured across the Atlantic Ocean back to London to fuel her desire to study among international students and to be in a place where her ideas would be embraced.

“Growing up, my family traveled the world, so I was enticed at an early age by cultural differences.” London was the perfect place for her to spread her wings and express herself freely without fear of ridicule. Nicole finished with her undergraduate degree in political science and international relations from the Richmond International University of London.

Her academic endeavors in London were refreshing in that she experienced a cultural baptism. She lived and studied among a diverse population with just as diverse opinions and views of the world. She was submerged in an academic oasis where her critical thinking and global literacy skills were fine tuned. When she finished her undergraduate degree, she reflected upon her experience and decided that it would be most beneficial to move back to America to study journalism so that she could expand the minds of other Americans.

Nicole Osei graduated from the University of North of Texas with a master’s degree in Journalism. Her career goal is to become a broadcast journalist. She wants to cast a new image of African-Americans to the world by promoting global literacy to everyone.


Read more about the Richmond International University of London:

http://www.richmond.ac.uk/