Feeding the World in the 21st Century

The Global Affair Center (GAC) which is a part of the International Education Office organized a lecture series during the month of February. This symposium focused on global food and farming issues. Speakers consisted of people from various organizations and professors from different schools. These events are free and open to the Shoreline community. Many students, staff, faculty and community members attended the events.

One of the lectures I attended was on agricultural development in Africa. Two people from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to our campus to discuss the opportunities and challenges of African agriculture. I am very interested in the topic because my major at Seattle University was International Studies and my minor was Global African Studies. I have learned and done research about farming and food aid in Africa. I thought that the lecture was interesting and informative. The speakers discussed crops, families and farming, food aid, food markets etc. They also presented statistics (graphs, pictures, charts) to help the audience understand the issues. People asked several questions and even stayed afterward to talk to the speakers.

These events are often extra credit for students (they will receive extra points for their class). So it is a great way to receive extra credit and learn something valuable!

It is finally summer in Seattle! And that only mean’s two things: SUNSHINE and ICE CREAM! The International Education Office had an ice cream social for all students. It was the first week of Summer Quarter classes so we wanted to make sure to make it a great start for students.

Students hung out in the office, even staff members joined all the fun. It was nice to see students taking a break from classes especially during the first week which is usually busy. There were so many flavors of ice cream!

Last month was busy for Shoreline because it was graduation time! Just a few days before the graduation ceremony, we had a barbeque (BBQ) – people gather outdoors and food is cooked on a grill – to celebrate the graduating students. People came and played games, listened to music, ate and talked to each other. I talked to a lot of the students who were graduating and they just could not believe how fast their time at Shoreline went. They talked about how they enjoyed their experience and although they are sad to leave Shoreline, they are excited to transfer to a university. Some new students were also at the BBQ making new friends and enjoying the Seattle sun.

There were also former Shoreline students who previously graduated. They came back to visit Seattle during their summer vacation. They told us about their adventures at the university they are attending. It was so fun to see students who left Shoreline over a year ago  and were able to tell the new students about their journey at Shoreline and now at their university. The BBQ was so much fun, everyone got to know both domestic and international students better—some students even started singing in front of everyone, giving us all a little concert!