Cura Personalis: International Student Fall Break Retreat Welcome to a special episode of Global Connections at USF! Today, we’re joining the Cura Personalis: International Student Fall Break Retreat & Picnic at the beautiful Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco. This retreat, hosted by University Ministry in collaboration with ISSS, brings together international students for a day of reflection, connection, and community, centered around the Jesuit value of cura personalis, or “care for the whole person.” In this episode, you’ll hear from students, organizers, and a special feature by USF’s president, Dr. Salvador D. Aceves, as they share what this retreat means to them, and how they find gratitude and hope in their USF journey. Resources Mentioned University Ministry | UM Retreats __________ Transcript Interview: Richard Alvia Rashi Bhatt: Hello and welcome to a special episode of Global Connections at USF. Today we're joining the Cura Personalis International Student Fall break retreat and picnic at the beautiful Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco. This retreat hosted by the University Ministry in collaboration with ISSS brings together international students for an afternoon of reflection, connection and community centered around the Jesuit values of Cura Personalis or care for the whole person. In this episode, you'll hear from students, organizers, and a special feature by USF's president, Dr. Salvador D. Aceves, as they share what this retreat means to them and how they find gratitude and hope in their USF journeys. Richard Alvia: Sure, yeah. So in Ignatian terms, it basically means the care for the whole person, right? For me, it's not just taking care literally ourselves but also each other with our mind, our spirit, you know, our whole physical state, you know, so going to the gym, you know, Making sure that you're surrounding yourself with positivity, with great friends and family. And of course, you know, being nourished spiritually as well, whatever that may be, for me, it's also therapy, like cooking in the kitchen and maybe even traveling. So, care for the person, it really is the full intent of how this one, find self- needed and self-care. And I think that is very powerful. It's very challenging for a lot of people today because We're so busy with our norms, or 9 to 5 jobs, our careers, our school, we're meeting deadlines, and we sometimes forget about ourselves and we cut too short, and when it comes too short and too late, we, we feel it, we feel it emotionally, physically, mentally, everything. So I believe in your person and I think it's very, very important that we continue to do that holistically with others and starting with ourselves. Rashi: Thank you for sharing! ________________ Interview: Helen Rashi: Hello and welcome. Do you mind introducing yourself for us today? Helen: Hi, my name is Helen. I’m a second year at USF and a neuroscience major. Rashi: How did you hear about the UM and ISSS Cura Personalis Retreat and Picnic? Helen: I heard it through ISA. Kojo came to one of our events, told us about it, and invited us. He showed us the poster and we were interested, so I came to support. Rashi: Has there been an activity or a part of today that made you smile or feel more connected to the USF community? Helen: Definitely. We did an icebreaker where there was a map and everyone had two Post-it notes writing one about like a fun fact or something about their home country and another one of sending a prayer across the world to any country they wanted, and I feel like I resonated with some of the prayers especially, and it was just so interesting hearing about other people's hometown. Rashi: It was nice talking to you. Helen: Thank you so much for talking to me. ________________ Interview: Mirei, Kitty, Hannah and Other Student Participants Rashi: Today we have with us Mirei, Kitty, and Hannah. Welcome. How did you hear about the retreat? Mirei: I found it on Instagram and ISSS. Kitty: So do I. Hannah: And Kitty sends me through Instagram. Rashi: Awesome community share, we love it. Was there something about today that made you smile, that you really enjoyed? Mirei: The connections. I met people from other countries and it was really interesting. Kitty: I would say also like Mire, but also I can hang out and make new friends, and also hang out with Mire and also Hannah. Rashi: So when you think about your journey as an international student, do you think being here at this event and and in community with other international students kind of falls within like what you were hoping for for yourself? Hannah: Yes. I was looking for a diverse community and it was really nice meeting people from different places and hearing different stories. ________________ Rashi: Hello and welcome. Do you mind introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about your program and your major? Student Participant: I'm a 2nd year here at USF and I'm in the School of Arts and Science studying kinesiology. Rashi: Awesome. So firstly, how did you hear about the ISSSUM Cura Personalis picnic today? Student Participant: I have many friends here today, Kojo and Helen and also having a family that is abroad, I want to make sure that I came in support but also just learned and they invited me and I want to make sure I came today. Rashi: And do you feel like there is something that you'd like to share about your culture or your home country and bring it to this event today? Student Participant: I think one thing about my home country, but just my family and their culture is just being together. Sometimes the word from different places we want to divide, but when we come together from all places around the world and we come together, we build, a bigger culture even though we're all different, so I think coming to the US too is where there's so much division, but there's in parts like San Francisco where there is culture. I feel like international everywhere bringing culture together. Rashi: Awesome. And then last question thus far in the event, was there something that made you smile or remind you of back home, from the activities that we've done? Student Participant: I think when we were doing like the post it's on the map, remembering that there's so much more out there than just like when I'm in my dorm sometimes I think to myself like oh it's just San Francisco today, but there's so much more out there to go explore and I think seeing different cultures, different foods from like all the way to Africa is like the Djibouti. There's so much more I think that resonates with me is like there's so much more out there to explore. Rashi: Awesome. Thank you so much. Student Participant: Thank you. I appreciate it. ________________ Interview: President Salvador D. Aceves Rashi: Today I have with me.. President Aceves: Dr. Salvador D. Aceves, President of the University of San Francisco. Rashi: So firstly, how did you hear about the UMISSS Cura Personalis retreat? President Aceves: Sure. Well, it actually came up a couple of ways. One is in my meeting with Kojo. He is the graduate student representative, and so we were talking about upcoming and exciting activities, and he said, Hey, we're going to have this retreat, and he gave me the time. I said I'll work on my schedule to make sure I could be there. So that was great and then I saw it also in our calendar. Rashi: And was there one thing about today that made you smile or made you feel more connected to the USF community? President Aceves: You know what I appreciate it so much is the openness, the curiosity, the care, and in many ways the spirit that is so reflected in our students. So you see that as we talked about Cura Personalis as you see all of those dimensions really starting to bubble up and starting to become very tangible in the way that our students are blending their academic studies with their purpose and what they like to do. Rashi: And I hear you starting to mention Cura Personalis a little bit. What does it mean to you personally? President Aceves: Yes, Cura Personalis is for me anchors that what we say is care for the whole person and we recognize it. We want to make sure that you are indeed developing your mind and developing your intellect, but we also want to make sure that you're developing the empathy, the heart, and that that also is grounded in a level of care, spirituality, and all of those together really makes the best version of us. Rashi: Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us and being here with us today. President Aceves: Thank you. It is indeed a pleasure. ________________ Interview: Kojo Akran Rashi: Hello and welcome, Kojo Akran. It's really nice to have you back on our podcast. So you've played an important role in organizing the retreat. What inspired you to get involved in planning this event for international students? Kojo: Thank you, Rashi for the question and thank you for the opportunity to talk to me today. I really appreciate what you're doing in your role to help international students and then we see you and we recognize you're playing an important role. So, what really motivated me was the question, right? Yeah, I mean, I work with the University Ministry. I work with the retreat team and then I've seen previous retreats that have happened in the university ministry and me being on the retreat team has given me an exposure into how retreat is really an essential part to the holistic development of students at USF and other schools, other institutions. I feel like this is an opportunity or this is a great opportunity to also be part of the history where like we plan retreats specifically to help develop students holistically and also set the tone for them to also recharge and reflect on a lot of things happening around them being academics, being personal life and all that. So, these were areas of motivation for me and then working with Richard, who is a great person. Also sets me on the part of being able to help these international students, and I am an international student too, so, to a larger extent I understand how sometimes difficult it is to find community as an international student and also just being in spaces where you feel supported, heard. And then making friends is a great way to incorporate yourself into the larger USF community. So my background as an international student played a very vital role. My work with specifically the retreat team also served as a point of ignition where like I felt like it ignited in me a sense of being able to do this and do this work for international students. We aimed at a lot of things, but one thing also, we also pride ourselves in the University Ministry, just being able to have the quality, right? So even if it's just a handful of students who are going to show up, we want to give them the best experience as possible. So we managed to even get President Aceves to come to the retreat and I feel like that was a very great way to engage with the students, and he was down to really do this for us and then he interacted a lot with the students, which was a great thing, and I think this is the first time there's been a president at a retreat, like this, and then it was like a great experience and exposure. Rashi: Yeah, definitely. And were there any particular themes or activities that you were most excited to see come to life? Kojo: Yes, I was pretty excited about, you know, the activity of folks writing a prayer for their home country and also, something unique about their country. I feel like it was a point of coming together to reflect because what I was seeing was a trend of things that is happening in different countries in as countries are different. I always feel like there is the domino effect where what is happening in Country A can directly or indirectly affect Country B, right? We've seen this a lot in how world leaders move about concerning trade deals concerning diplomatic ties and all that, right? So I've come from a place where I feel like this activity helped us to connect the dots, right? Reconnect with other countries we may not directly be involved with and also learn about people's culture and all that. So yes, I would say that was the activity I was much interested about and seeing it come to life. Rashi: Yeah, definitely, and I also think all the students really enjoy participating in that activity as well. So today we've been talking a lot about Cura Personalis. What does that phrase mean to you personally, especially in context of this retreat? Kojo: Well, so just as the name of the retreat reflects. You know, this is a Jesuit institution, and one thing that sets us apart from other institutions is the grounding of the school in the philosophical and opinions of Jesuit being a Jesuit Catholic school and all that. So, queer personalist to me means a lot of things, right? So caring for the whole person, but I also feel like it also embodies being able to be there to want to do it, right? So we all understand it is caring for the whole person or the holistic approach to caring for people, but then I also, I also feel like it is your ability to want to do it, right? So being able to want to do it is a great deal for me and I also count it as being part of queer personalities and this retreat was like a place or an avenue where we were able to care for each other in the sense of being there for each other, listening to what is happening in each other's country and being in community to share each other's experience and learn about each other's culture. So to me, an important part of this retreat that can never be taken away, right? It will keep reforming, but the name and tradition would stay because this is what we are as a school and this is how we exhibit what we are as a school. Rashi: Yeah, that makes sense. And from your own cultural background, is there something you've brought into the planning or hoped others would experience or learn from? Kojo: Yes, personally, one thing I really emphasize is cultural humility. That's one, important I would say attributes that really influences how I plan and how I do things when there is a horizon of different cultures coming together. Cultural humility, being able to learn people's culture, going into spaces and places where like folks have different cultures and all that. That you are willing to let down your culture to learn other people's culture and appreciate it. So coming into this retreat, one thing I feel like influenced how I planned this out was cultural humility, cultural acceptance, and that the deal to want to learn about people's culture was a great deal for me. Rashi: For sure. And has there been anything about the retreat day like the student interactions, the conversation, the reflections that really surprised you? Kojo: I wouldn't call it a surprise. I would call it more some level of vulnerability because people shared a lot of things about their culture. And people shared what is going on in their home country, people shared how they are surviving here in terms of finding community and all that. So I would say there was a lot of vulnerability and we were there to provide the spaces for people to be vulnerable and also support them in terms of being able to express how they feel about what is going on back in their home country and all that. So yeah, there was a lot of good vulnerability. Rashi: Definitely. And maybe lastly, when you think about your own journey as an international student, how does being part of this retreat, both planning and participating, connect your ideas of balance, reflection, or self-care? Kojo: So, me as an international student, I've come to, I'm in a grad program, so the population is quite different. The grad population is quite different from the undergrad population, but there's one thing that cuts across the fact that we are all international students and we share a lot of similarities, ability to transition into a higher education institution in the United States, being a finding community and all that so I feel like all these ideas I had about, all these challenges I faced as an international student and coming to learn about them. I'm also in higher education master's program here. So I've come to learn about how people's culture, how folks' understanding of new environments and even integrating into the new community influences the ability to thrive better in such places. I've come to appreciate each and everyone's willingness to want to come to the US or specifically USF and although we have different cultures, people are eager to learn about new things and people have found ways or folks have found ways of taking care of themselves. If it's through calling home and hearing from your family, I used to do that a lot. I still do that if it is regular phone calls to check in, that is gonna be a way of you caring for yourself. Take it if sometimes you need a break from school work to rewind and take care of yourself to take it. So yeah, there, there are a lot of things we preach or we advocate for international students to know if you need to speak to somebody to even just the fact that you're gonna get a hearing here, somebody is gonna listen to you is a way to take care of yourself too and always ask for help, always asking for help when needed. It's also a great thing. Lastly, one thing I will add is, you do not need to do all this yourself, right? There are people, there are structures, there are communities to support you, so, I would urge international students to tap into that and make the most out of their experience at USF. Rashi: Yeah, definitely, and we really appreciate you bringing your international student background as well as your involvement with multiple different departments and student organizations on campus to make this retreat a huge success. So thank you so much for recapping how the retreat went and how you've enjoyed it and your participation. We really appreciate it and I look forward to returning back next year. Kojo: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me too. Thank you for helping us. We couldn't have done this without you. It was a collaborative effort, and we really appreciate ISSS working all this, and I thank all the people I work with to make this a reality. I would also want to use this opportunity to thank the President, Doctor Aceves, for taking time off his busy schedule to be there for us and interact with us throughout the events. So thank you too and thank everybody who helped make this a reality.