Finding Common Ground and Shared Experiences -- Reflections on a US-Myanmar Virtual Student Exchange

In spring semester 2024, UArizona Human Rights Practice students joined a unique Virtual Student Exchange that brought them together in real time from students with Spring University Myanmar (SUM), an educational institution organized by pro-democracy activists inside that country and in exile. In this blogpost, UArizona alum Mitch Conroy shares reflections on the experience. You can also read about student Mara Duran's experiences. 

By Mitch Conroy

2024 graduate, MA in Human Rights Practice, University of Arizona

Understanding the life experiences of people who are living on opposite sides of the globe seems nearly impossible, but through the UA-SUM virtual exchange camp, I was able to find similarities with people whom I otherwise would not cross paths with.

Throughout the exchange, SUM students used Zoom avatars and pseudonyms to maintain anonymity while still maintaining a feeling of human connection. The avatars were reflecting the movements of the SUM students, going so far as to blink when they did. I found that these avatars helped make me feel like I wasn’t talking to a blank screen, but also did not risk their safety. This allowed for deep cultural exchange and human connection to flourish, while still maintaining safety protocols for SUM students. 

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Throughout the virtual exchange, we were learning together about a variety of topics including education, art, democracy, human rights, media, disinformation and misinformation, and psychosocial support. We were given lectures by experts in each of these fields, which allowed us to create new bonds. While some of these human rights topics were things I had already known about, I was able to learn about them in the Myanmar context. Other topics were completely new to me, especially the lecture on art. 

SUM students talked about their first-hand experiences and perspectives on many of these topics, such as their deep desire for democracy and their experiences with media and disinformation. I had previous knowledge of the political issues in Myanmar, but I was deeply unaware of how this impacted individual people, and the stories of the people who are actually fighting for human rights in Myanmar. Talking to the SUM students and hearing their perspectives opened my understanding of what living in these conditions is like. I also had the opportunity to tell the SUM students about American culture, politics, media, and education, which allowed us to compare our different systems. 

One major activity from the virtual exchange program involved cultural presentations. Students from SUM and UArizona had the opportunity to give presentations about an aspect of their culture that they wanted to share with the group. I learned more about a few of the ethnic groups in Myanmar through these presentations, which helped to add perspective to the diversity of Myanmar’s ethnic groups. Myanmar has over 135 ethnic groups, each with their own unique food, art, culture, and more. 

I gave my own cultural presentation on parts of my life that I thought would be fun to share: the Philadelphia Flyers. While this is not as deeply rooted in history as the SUM presentations, my love for the Flyers hockey ice hockey team comes from my family, and I wanted to share that with everyone. Other UArizona students talked about their home states and countries, which reflected the diverse backgrounds that the UArizona students brought to the virtual exchange.

In addition to these larger cultural exchanges, there were also small, personal exchanges between students that allowed for deeper interactions and understandings of each other. Often during our virtual camp meetings, students would utilize the Zoom chat to discuss seemingly unimportant topics but allowed us to see that we have a lot of similarities. These topics included pets, musicians such as Taylor Swift, and television shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender. 

My cats jumped into my camera view multiple times during the sessions, often leading to many messages about them! People also told me about their cats, which let me know more about the SUM students and gave me space to talk about small, personal parts of my life that did not necessarily relate directly to the main topics of the camp. However, these smaller yet important topics allowed students to bond with each other and see that even though we are on opposite sides of the globe, we have a lot in common. 

Deeper connections between students were also formed through discussions about mental health. Space for opening up about different life struggles allowed for the humanizing of people facing human rights crises on the other side of the world. Learning how to listen without judgment, understand, and empathize with each other was a truly beautiful experience for me. There were deep discussions about issues that impact all of us, including discrimination, mental health struggles, and a variety of difficult life experiences. 

While I respect the privacy and details of the people that I spoke to, and will not go into detail about the topics we discussed, I think that it is important to highlight how important these topics were for us to talk about. These discussions allowed us to have a window into the lives of people from drastically different backgrounds, which ultimately showed that we are not so different after all. I was able to relate to the SUM students on multiple levels surrounding my life experiences and difficulties that I have faced. 

Following the two weeks of virtual camp meetings, small groups consisting of UArizona and SUM students were created to work on projects to benefit people in Myanmar.  One group would win funding based on their proposal to create their project ideas. These groups met regularly and worked together to create project proposals, culminating in presentations about a debate workshop and event, an educational workshop, and an online platform hosting art and stories from the people of Myanmar. 

Through my participation with my group, I created much closer connections with a small group of SUM students. My group meetings were early in the morning here in Arizona, and late at night in Myanmar, but we all made time to have these important collaborations. Though I am not a morning person, I made sure to show up to every meeting as engaged as possible (often with coffee…) to contribute as much as I could to the project. I was able to form much closer connections with my fellow group members and was able to create a project proposal that reflected all of our thoughts and contributions. My group even won the funding, and will be able to continue working on our project! 

Many Americans are unaware of the events that have taken place in Myanmar and probably aren’t able to point the country out on a map, but we were still able to find common ground and shared experiences through these conversations. This is just the beginning of our collaborations with SUM, but I believe this virtual exchange program highlights the importance of cultural exchange and conversations that go beyond those who are geographically close to you.