I have listened to many students bemoan the lack of opportunities the University of Massachusetts Boston has to offer in comparison to our privatized neighbors. Public universities are often put down as the backup plan; as the reliable safety net when greater institutions are out of reach.
I genuinely feel that this stereotype stems from obliviousness. While it is true that the appetizing fruits of UMass Boston’s scholarships, programs, and communities require a bit more digging compared to the flashy goodies of private universities, students at UMass Boston are not at all left wanting. I would even argue that UMass Boston, in particular, ranks higher than neighboring schools in some of its international endeavors for students. 
For example, in 2014, I was one of 23 students selected to participate in an 11-day, all-expenses paid international exchange program between the United States and Japan. The trip was secured through the efforts of Paul Watanabe, an Asian American Studies professor at UMass Boston and a member of the U.S.-Japan Council. Faculty like Professor Watanabe act on a love for the students and the community that I feel we rarely witness at other larger or more expensive schools. The exchange program, called the Tomodachi Inouye Scholars Program in honor of the late Senator Daniel Inouye, seeks to encourage peaceful relations and mutual aid between the two nations following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. 
Our team spent time between Tokyo and Hiroshima not only getting to know the culture, foods, and people of these spectacular cities, but also engaging with a new side of its painful history. In Hiroshima, we had the honor of meeting a survivor of the atomic bombings of World War II. We confronted our understanding of what we were taught in the U.S. versus what we saw in Japan. I still remember my high school world history classes, during which my peers unanimously agreed that bombing Japan was the right decision for the “greater good” of the world. I reflected on these memories and how something so plainly wrong to me could be perceived as the inevitable path to justice for others. Seems like the only way to make sense of our atrocities is to explore the other side of the situation.
The exchange program awakened something in me: most of us know absolutely nothing about the world we live in. We are wrapped up in the media, limiting our scope on the world. That’s not to mention the academic lesson plans that oversimplify real human experience. 
There seems to be a trend in history to paint clear “good guys” and “bad guys.” What happens when students are exposed to voices left out of our country’s narrative? As a freshman at the time, I was completely baffled that UMass Boston would offer me the opportunity to challenge our teachings.
The value of traveling abroad is not lost on most students, but the accessibility certainly is. All that stood between me and that trip was a simple essay and an interview. And again, this year, I find myself at the beginning of another opportunity for chipping into what my awareness currently lacks. 
Every two years, UMass Boston’s English Department offers the Peter Brooks Butler Memorial Scholarship, courtesy of Mrs. E. Mauran Beals and Mrs. Jane B. Butler. The scholarship provides all funding—excluding airfare—for one student to attend summer school at Oxford University in England. This year, I am the fortunate and grateful recipient of that prize.
Starting July 1st, I will be spending six weeks studying English literature, as well as Oxford’s architecture and art, in the heart of a country brimming with historic beginnings, truths, and evils. I am eager to learn about the nation that once held my family’s home country-Pakistan-captive, and to carry both both love for England’s tremendous culture and a need to make sense of its darker truths. 
I plan to blog about my experiences at the university every week, covering everything from daily encounters and studies to cultural exchanges and travel experiences. As a young Pakistani-Muslim woman of color, I am especially interested in logging the differences and similarities I see between the U.S. and the U.K. in regards to diversity and immigration rhetoric. Considering the recent “Brexit” decision, in which the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, I am nervous and excited to be visiting England during such a historic time. 
Until next time!