Student Q & A: Burlington High School

Teachers and administrators in the Burlington Public Schools have participated in Primary Source courses and study tours for many years. As a result of this partnership, Burlington High School has developed a Global Competency Certificate program for students. This spring, the first group of students will graduate with a Global Competency Certificate. The program is designed to foster students' interest in the larger world beyond the confines of Massachusetts and the United States, with a focus on becoming members of the global community. Students who participate are recognized for building knowledge that is essential for making a contribution to a global society.

Saikrishna Kugabalasooriar, currently a senior at Burlington High School, participated in the Global Competency program and recently shared his thoughts about global education and educational travel.

Primary Source: Why did you enroll in the BHS Global Competency Certificate program?

Saikrishna Kugabalasooriar: I wanted to find a program that would recognize all of my extracurricular activities and travel associated with a global perspective. The second reason is that I believe that many parts of the Global Competency Certificate program should be regular graduation requirements for students because it is so important for students to experience other cultures and learn from those experiences.

PS: What does "global competency" mean to you?

Saikrishna: To me, global competency is expanding your mind and life to the world at large, exploring, and discovering ideas you never knew existed by means of academic classes, cultural travel, and other modes of absorbing the many cultural ideas in our world. To some it is considered an accomplishment, however, I strongly assert that all students should want to learn about the world they live in and learn the causal relationships between nations that envelope every person on the face of the earth. The type of "competency" that this program looks for is a mastery (in high school standards) of global concepts. Of these concepts, geography, history, demographics, and other academic areas are foundations, but there is so much more to global competency. Global competency is understanding why you have so much in common with a high school student in China the same age as yourself.

PS: Which aspect of the Global Competency program has been most rewarding for you? What do you think will be most useful to you in your future studies and career?

Saikrishna: I will certainly use this certificate program on my resume as a means of summing up all of the travel, the academic and language learning classes, the cultural experiences, and all of the other things that I have been fortunate enough to experience in my high school education.

PS: Why is it important for young people to learn about the world outside our borders?

Saikrishna: Traveling opens your mind to a whole new level of thinking. I always compare travel to learning calculus or physics because once you have traveled, your mind is capable of understanding concepts beyond measure. I wish that all students my age could travel to countries like Sri Lanka, China, Spain, or Holland in order to see the obvious differences and resounding similarities between all cultures of the world.

PS: What, in your opinion, is the most pressing issue facing the world today?

Saikrishna: In my opinion, the most pressing issue facing the world today is a lack of understanding. Because students across the world have not experienced much travel and global learning they find it difficult to understand why people in certain countries respond to current issues the way they do. They cannot see the roots and the causality that one learns simply by spending a week in another country. I spent two weeks in China and I learned more about China's history and current issues than I ever could have learned through the eyes of a history teacher alone. It is truly different when you are able to experience history and culture for yourself. I believe that through short travel and educational experiences such as this one, the students of today can become the understanding, well-informed leaders of tomorrow.