Life's path clear after trip to France
Source: The Ann Arbor News - MLive.com (Original Article)
Brooke Schaffer discovered her raison d’etre last
summer studying French in Nice.
“I met students from 23 different
countries,” she says. “That’s what
prompted my interest in anthropology. It showed me how
ignorant I was and how I wanted to learn so much more about
other cultures.”
This fall, the South Lyon High School grad will continue
her lifelong journey of discovery as a U.S. Navy ROTC
scholarship student at the University of Michigan.
While in France, Schaffer met Muslim students from Turkey
and was surprised to learn they love American clothes and
music.
“They were just like Americans, only very
polite,” she says. “They like American
culture; they wear Abercrombe & Fitch. I heard so much
American music. Our culture impacts people in Turkey even
though they’re so different from us.”
“Since their country borders Iraq, it was interesting
to have them share their perceptions and to see how they
differ from those of many Americans,” Schaffer
wrote in her cultural diversity essay for the University of
Michigan entrance application. “This made me realize
that there is no one right way to perceive a situation and
that it is important to consider all viewpoints.”
Schaffer says her work as co-founder of the Be the Change
Club at South Lyon High School, team leader of Challenge
Day, class representative in the Shared Involvement Process,
public relations officer for the student council and vice
president of the National Honor Society demonstrates her
commitment to respecting the needs of others.
“She is one of the kindest, most compassionate and
hardworking people I’ve ever known,” says
Julie Schaffer, Brooke’s mother, a licensed
professional counselor. “I would really like her as a
best friend.”
When Schaffer returned from France, she longed to turn her
desire to understand others into a lifelong process, but
didn’t know where to begin. Her uncle, Frequent Flyer Credit Card a U.S. Marine
Corps colonel, encouraged …continue reading