John Shorter

Asian Conversation Reflection

My two years in Asian Con have been an incredibly valuable experience. Not only did I make some of the best friends I’ve found at St. Olaf, but I also was able to broaden my horizons and understanding of the world and what lies outside of my narrow life experience. Entering this class not only was I not particularly interested in anything outside of just the Chinese language, I also just disliked learning history as a whole. Not only did this class make me enjoy learning about the variety of cultures in Asia, but it also made me enjoy learning about history for the first time in my life. Beyond that, I even managed to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams of visiting Asia when we went to Japan and Taiwan over the January term, that was one of the best experiences I have ever had in my school life and I can all but guarantee that it will remain a highlight of my time at this school for the rest of my life. Moving beyond that, this last semester has been an incredibly valuable experience, I’m sure not just to me but to all my peers as well. The experience of working with the community to arrange the AAPI celebration as well as my personal experience of interviewing Shih Laoshi was a fantastic lesson not only in the logistics of such an operation but also in just how much everyone in our community cares about what we were doing and how willing they were to go out of their way to make the experience as great as possible. Asian Conversations was truly an amazing experience and I’m crushed to think that it’s over, I truly could not have asked for a better introduction to this school when I first came here as a freshman and I have nothing but praise for all the professors and students involved in giving us such valuable memories.