World Savvy student Leah Norman talks to ChangeX about her life-changing experience with World Savvy

In my junior year of high school, a teacher at my high school burst into the classroom informing us that there is a non-profit called World Savvy that is taking 30 American students to Bangladesh to study climate change. The application was due the next day, meaning I spent the next 24 hours writing and editing. A few months later, I found out I would be a member of the cohort.

After studying climate change in Bangladesh, I created a Knowledge-to-Action project to engage an international issue with my local community. Since graduating from high school, I have continued my engagement with World Savvy, acting as the pioneering co-chair of World Savvy’s Alumni Advisory Board (AAB). After two years in the position, I am now a member at large, mentoring other students in AAB leadership positions.

Being a World Savvy student has encouraged me to expand my worldview, look at issues with different lenses and dedicate my life to social change.

Unlike the classrooms program, I studied climate change experientially in Bangladesh.

We lived with host families and traveled throughout the country to study multiple facets of climate change and development in Bangladesh. Similarly to the classrooms program, we created Knowledge-to-Action projects to be implemented in the United States. I partnered with a fellow student and we created a presentation to inform our community about climate refugees and how they can engage with the issue.

World Savvy challenges students to critically analyze global issues and discover local solutions. By doing this, World Savvy produces global, critical and innovative life-long learners. I enjoyed this process because it was self-led and experiential. While I was still in a classroom setting, I was creating a project that helped an international issue. That experience isn’t one that you find in normal K-12 classrooms.

If everyone was taught to be global citizens, I believe the world would be a more peaceful, equitable place.

World Savvy’s programs introduce students to a world they might not have known existed before, and empowers them to create change in their communities. Being a World Savvy student has encouraged me to expand my worldview, look at issues with different lenses and dedicate my life to social change, and I believe this is true of all World Savvy students.

World Savvy empowered me to constantly challenge myself and consider global issues critically.

I’m not sure I’d be where I am today without World Savvy. Traveling to Bangladesh led me to major in Economics and minor in Development and Sustainability at university. I studied abroad in Uganda in my junior year. I’m not sure I would have had the courage to spend four months in a developing country without my experience in Bangladesh, nor would I have even thought of studying Development in East Africa without learning about global issues through World Savvy.

I am passionate about international development and global health issues because of the global lens World Savvy provided me and I plan to dedicate my career to these issues.

World Savvy empowered me to constantly challenge myself, consider global issues critically and dedicate my career to international issues.

World Savvy does an amazing job at educating students on global issues, while simultaneously developing a competitive skillset. Every student I have met through World Savvy has gone on to do amazing work after high school and I’d love to see the World Savvy student alumni network grow!

 

The World Savvy Classrooms program integrates the highest level of global competence learning into classrooms by combining professional development and consulting for educators with multi-disciplinary projects for middle and high school students. As a teacher, principal or education leader you can sign up to bring the World Savvy programme to your classroom. The World Savvy team will guide you through these steps and provide you with all you need along the way!

Sign up for World Savvy today through ChangeX

Learn how to register for World Savvy