Embracing Cultural Differences: A Journey to Self-Confidence

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to travel to Seattle with the National Millennial & Gen Z community. During that trip, I had the chance to visit Starbucks, Microsoft, and WE Communications. I also had the opportunity to meet some of the most inspiring and kindest groups of people I had ever come across.

At the companies we visited, I truly felt like our voices mattered. As students and young professionals, we were able to offer our ideas to help these companies with their Corporate Social Responsibility models and ask relevant questions about what AI can do for bigger corporations as a whole and for the field of Public Relations. As a young professional passionate about PR, I loved hearing from WE Communications about their different teams that work specifically with AI and what the future looks like for them.

However, my biggest takeaway from this trip did not come from the companies we visited but rather from the people I visited them with. Growing up as an Indigenous woman has taught me many life lessons and has given me the courage and strength to grow into the person I am today. However, growing up being reserved and quiet was normalized, and being more outspoken was certainly frowned upon. It was essential to pay attention to my elders and listen to what they were saying, but my thoughts and opinions were never really asked for. This has led me to not always offer my opinions on certain topics and not always speak up for myself when I needed to. I still struggle with these issues today, but I truly cannot thank this group enough for helping me realize that my opinions matter and that I can and should be asking more questions.

This group of individuals from the National Millennial & Gen Z Community are so confident in who they are and stand up for what they believe in. Being able to experience this trip with them has led me to change the way I view myself and my self-worth. I am forever grateful for this experience and will truly never forget it.