The COVID-19 pandemic has left many students stuck inside alone, which is why it's more important than ever to find ways to bring them together. As part of Housing and Residential Life's Living Learning Community program, the Office of International Programs has launched the first ever Global Living Learning Community, which is a residential experience for undergraduate students living in Towers Residential Suites. The Global LLC is one of six living learning communities that the Office of Housing and Residential Life (OHRL) offers to students living on campus. The group aims to promote intercultural awareness via a variety of activities including cultural discussions, celebrations and other activities.

"Students are very engaged so far," says Gabrielle Strzalkowski, the staff coordinator for the Global LLC. "Obviously, this is a unique year to be living on campus, so the students seem appreciative of the opportunity to connect with others during the era of social distancing. Most of the students in the Global LLC are freshmen, so I am hopeful that they will serve as a support system to one another as they navigate the start of their undergraduate experience during this very challenging time."

The Global LLC celebrated the start of the academic year with LLC Liftoff, a two-day virtual event where all participants in a Living Learning Community get together to learn about and discuss their personality traits and goals for the semester. They also engaged in community building activities and planned future activities and events for the rest of the semester.

The main activity the Global LLC engages in is monthly cultural studies, where the students select a country that interests them. The meetings are mostly virtual, however there will be smaller groups meeting in socially distanced activities.

"The Global LLC is very student-driven," says Strzalkowski. "Each month, the Global LLC students will select a country that they want to learn more about. They will do research about that country's history and culture, and then we will come together virtually at the end of each month to share our findings and celebrate the country of the month.

"The Global LLC has selected South Korea as its first country to learn more about. Current international students who are from Korea will virtually meet with the Global LLC later this month to share their stories and experiences."

Originally, the Global LLC was planned to include a mix of 18 international and 18 domestic students. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this has been reduced to 12 domestic students. For next year's program, Strzalkowski hopes they will be able to include international students and expand beyond even the initially planned 36 students. While the students are all domestic, many of them are first- or second-generation Americans with families from Nigeria, Canada and Vietnam, among others.

"I think many of us are disappointed that we cannot hang out in person, but we have nonetheless enjoyed our time spent together virtually," says Strzalkowski. "We are all navigating this new and unusual world of virtual campus engagement together, and it has definitely been a learning experience for us all. Since students will need to navigate online learning tools, such as Zoom and Canvas, to succeed in their classes this year, many of them expressed that the LLC Liftoff made them feel more comfortable using these platforms as they headed into the start of their semester."

For more information about Global LLC and other Living Learning Communities, students and faculty are encouraged to check out housing.wayne.edu/llc

By Jacob Stocking, OIP Communications Associate.

The Office of International Programs leads Wayne State's global engagement by creating opportunities that foster international education and research, facilitate the exchange of individuals and ideas that promote global competencies and citizenship, and provide resources that support the expansion of the university's global agenda. Follow us @WayneOIP.