This summer I attended the HOBY (Hugh O’Brian Youth) World Leadership Congress in Chicago along with 418 other ambassadors from 14 different countries. Meeting so many new people is intimidating enough,let alone meeting people from so many different places. When I first arrived it was very apparent who was from the states and who was not. The international ambassadors stuck together in scared masses with the other ambassadors from their own country.

However,throughout the week I made many new friends from across the country and around the world. Encountering people from different cultures for the first time really showed me how,despite our differences on the surface,we have more similarities than differences.

When I first arrived to my dorm, my roommate had already settled in and left. The bed was set and there were things strewn across the desk-makeup wipes, contact solution, tissues. It was my only clues to who this mystery roommate was. Curious, I took a closer look and became perplexed-the labels were not in English. Every package was covered in writing in an asian language I couldn’t decipher. I suddenly had so many feelings. I was very excited that I would get to room with an international ambassador,but I was nervous too. Would she think my habits were weird? Would I think her habits were weird? Would her English be good enough to maintain a conversation without it being awkward? Later that night we finally met and we hit it off right away. Her name was Maddie and she was from Taiwan. She was short in stature (which she would later tell me was average for where she lived) and had dark hair. She also had one of the most bright and optimistic personalities I have had the pleasure of encountering. Me being a night owl and her not ever getting quite used to the 14-hour time difference,we stayed up until 1 or 2 am most nights talking for hours on end. By the end of the week it was like I almost didn’t even notice her accent anymore. We talked endlessly about school,politics,fashion,boys,food,and how much we both loved our HOBY experience. Once I got to know her,my preconceived notions of the international ambassadors being so intimidatingly different began to fade.

I also had the privilege of meeting a friend from Argentina. His name was Miguel and he was from Buenos Aires. He was in my family group,which is the group we spent the majority of our day with. The first few days he was very quiet and kept to himself,intimidated and often inconspicuously trying to decipher some unfamiliar words on google translate. After that,we couldn’t get him to shut up. Once he became comfortable with the group he revealed his goofy personality.There were a few cultural differences that made themselves apparent throughout the week. Miguel had many complaints about the lack of healthier food options,saying that “everything is fried here.”. On the other hand, he introduced us to a drink that is widely popular in Argentina called mate (pronounced mah-tay)-it is to them as coffee is to those of us in the US. It was a tea-like substance that resembled marijuana (which was amusing to the non Argentinian ambassadors). It is enjoyed hot and is usually drunk out of a special wood cup with a metal straw. Another thing that stuck out to me was how he would often sit out of our many impromptu dance parties throughout the week. One time I decided to ask him about it and he said one reason was because he didn’t know the dances with coreografía -choreography. Things like the cupid shuffle and cha-cha slide were foreign to many of the international ambassadors. However,despite all of these differences, Miguel was just like all of us. He made inappropriate comments during presentations to make us all laugh. He enjoyed using English swear words maybe just a little too much. He was there with advice and a hug when we would get into heavier topics of discussion with our group.  

By the end of our World Leadership Congress experience all 419 of us ambassadors became like one huge family. The beginning of the week and all of the nerves we had seemed so far away. Those feelings of anxiety were replaced with sadness at having to say “see you later” to our beloved new friends who lived anywhere from one state away to several countries away. I realized that our different backgrounds didn’t make us all that different-they made us diverse. We all learned how truly similar we all are and that we all have a common goal-to make our world a better place.