Midterm Blog - The Center for Global Studies' Differential Unity

The Center for Global Studies is unique in its own makeup compared to other schools within Fairfield County due to its drastic diversity and cultural backgrounds.  Many schools like Darien, New Canaan, Danbury, and Fairfield Ludlowe tend to not vary in ethnicity tremendously when compared to the cultural sense of that area’s population.  SImply put, there is not much diversity in many schools in Fairfield County.  Inner city schools, particularly those in Norwalk and Stamford tend to be more diverse than those of smaller towns like Joel Barlow and Greenwich.  Regardless, none of these schools compare to the Center for Global Studies.  

Though Brien McMahon may show some sense of diversity, what CGS brings to the table is astonishing.  Being a magnet school, we attract students with ethnicities venturing all across the globe.  From Lebanon, China, Germany, and Brazil to Japan, England, India, and Mexico and across the seven continents, CGS has roots.  This sense, besides differentiating our small school from schools across Fairfield County, creates our own cultural space, our own cultural atmosphere.  In essence, being different is why we are so similar.  

Besides having different cultural backgrounds, many in CGS face different economic and social backgrounds as well.  A life in Darien is not the same as a life in Stratford which is not the same as life in Bridgeport nor a similar to a life in Trumbull.  Though their are wage gaps between the cities and towns of Fairfield County, these gaps do not hinder the Center for Global Studies, they help.  Differences separate people.  In our county, you can find an abundance of differentiations but often cannot find differentiations living together in unity.  This is why CGS is so significant and, to be realistic, valuable.

What different cultures, religions, and societies bring to the table becomes a feast of knowledge and understanding.  Many schools settle to a specific curriculum and bore their students to new heights without caring too much for the outcome of their students.  CGS does not fall under that category.  In its name and its mission statement, the Center for Global Studies does not leave its students behind.  I believe the true value in our school is not for what it teaches you, it exists in what CGS does not teach you: how to learn.  Yes, the Center for Global Studies, in my own humble opinion, does not teach its students how to learn.  I believe that is what’s so “different” about us.  We are not taught how to think, we are prompted to find out for ourselves.  In the words of my sister, a graduate from, well, not CGS: “I don’t know how to learn.  I was never taught ‘how to learn’.  I was taught A + B = B + A.”  My sister was taught the fundamentals.  She was taught that “that’s just how it is” and never questioned why.  She never questioned, “What about C?”  This is where the Center for Global Studies is so different from every other school.  The plethora of differences bring unity, and that unity gives us a sense of understanding.