One of the core missions of the Cross Cultural Internship Program is bringing together people from different backgrounds to share their unique perspectives and experiences. To that end, on May 27th, the CCIP students had the opportunity to talk with a group of local teens at the Flushing YMCA Beacon Center Program on the topic, "Living Outside of America."

Zhutain Yang (Skye) and Yang Le Lim from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore spoke with the teens about what it is like to grow up in Singapore, explaining the history and some of the differences in the government system, schooling, lifestyles, and culture between the two countries.

Chun Yip Chan (Anson) from the University of Hong Kong and Tsz Kwan Kong (Tiffany) from the City University of Hong Kong discussed the government structure of Hong Kong, as well as what school and personal life are like. After sharing their perspectives, they answered questions.

Finally, Yueran Yang (Jessie) and Yilin Wang (Linda) who are both from China and study at Macau University of Science and Technology, shared the history of their home country and discussed the cultural differences between Chinese people living in China and those who live overseas.

Skye said, "All the teens were really interested and asked a lot of questions. I was nervous at first to talk with them, but it ended up being great and I'm happy I did this."

Jessie added, "This experience reminded me that we all have our own unique lives. It was a lot of fun to talk to these teens about my home and to hear about theirs. I hope they learned a lot because I know I did."

The Beacon program, with over 80 centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, offers after school and weekend youth programs for students ages 8 and up. There were around 30 participants that came for the presentation.