Are you interested in meeting new people, forming friendships, AND, earning Honors service hours? Maybe you have heard of or participated in Conversation Partners through the Honors Program. Whether you have or have not been involved with Conversation Partners in the past, you can learn more about this opportunity and sign up to participate at the beginning of each semester! 

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Through Conversation Partners, you will be paired with a student learning English as a second language here at Gannon. You will meet with them for a total of one hour each week to simply talk. This allows the student to practice speaking, hearing, and understanding English. Not only does this allow you to help a classmate, but it also offers you the opportunity to learn more about the diverse cultures across the globe that are represented on Gannon’s campus. 

 

In my experience with Conversation Partners, I have talked with my partners about a wide range of topics, from their favorite pizza places in Erie to their religious customs, cultural gender roles, and political beliefs. My partners and I have had so much fun talking about our lives with one another and examining the differences between our experiences. It is often easy to become consumed in our own lives, leading to unawareness of  many other beliefs and practices celebrated across the world. Knowledge of these other cultures and the experiences of those who are a part of them improves our ability to engage in these sometimes challenging conversations in which viewpoints conflict. These conversations help prepare us for future possibilities of travel to new places, along with giving us greater confidence, understanding, awareness, and appreciation for diversity in our social and work lives.

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Conversation Partners is an excellent program to participate in to fully experience some of the main goals of the Honors Program: service, community-building, and global awareness. I have truly enjoyed talking with my partners and have found it convenient to regularly earn service hours. There is no limit on the amount of hours you can earn through Conversation Partners, and these hours can be counted as Honors or outside hours. To receive credit for your service, you must record your hours on a service sheet (available in the Honors Center and under the “Forms” tab on BlackBoard), and then turn your sheet in to the membership coordinator, currently Samantha Valaitis, who will input your hours into BlackBoard. If Conversation Partners sounds like a program you would be interested in participating in, be on the lookout for sign ups at the beginning of each semester!