Maggie Reinhart | 00:00  
And especially when you're trying to learn other cultures and understand other cultures and other people, you don't want to be offensive. And some people kind of hold back with questions or hold back with certain different things. But with ICI, you know it's safe. 
You know that you can use that to understand cultures correctly and understand without offending anyone. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 00:33  
To the Cultural Agility Podcast, where we explore the stories of some of the most advanced Intercultural practitioners from around the world to help you become culturally agile and succeed in today's culturally complex world. I'm your host, Marco Blankenburgh, International Director of KnowledgeWorkx, where every day we help individuals and companies achieve relational success in that same complex world. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 01:01  
Thank you everybody for coming. And this is our first time that we're doing a group podcast recording. And I have some dear friends with me and colleagues that we want to have a conversation with around the Intercultural side of life. 
So before we dive into it, because each one of you has a fascinating story, it would be good to introduce ourselves and to know who's around the table here. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 01:31  
Okay, so I'll start off. I'm Helen and mini backstory, born and raised in the UAE. I'm still finishing up high school. And my dad comes from Holland, my mom's from South Africa. 
So whenever you ask me a question, where are you from? Just give me five minutes to process my answers. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 01:52  
We'll probably get to that. Yeah. 
So let's just go around the table. I think that's the easiest. 
Shelley Reinhart| 01:59  
My name is Maggie Reinhart and I work with Marco here at KnowledgeWorkx. And I'm the Director of Knowledgeworks Education. And weaving Intercultural intelligence and education and teachers and them understanding their students. 
Maggie Reinhart | 02:07  
I. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 02:07  
Love. 
Shelley Reinhart| 02:13  
So that's my passion. 
Ahmed Msouya | 02:16  
My name is Ahmed Msouya. I was born and raised in the UAE as well. But originally I'm from Tanzania. Both my parents are from Tanzania. And currently I'm studying at University of Toronto. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 02:28  
Awesome. 
Maggie Reinhart | 02:29  
Hi, I'm Maggie Reinhart. And I was born in Maryland in the United States. And I grew up there for a while. 
And then I moved to Dubai when I was going into ninth grade. I've moved back to the United States. I'm going to school at York College of Pennsylvania. And I'm studying Human Services. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 02:48  
Fantastic. Wow. Colorful group of people. And it sounds like there's one thing that we have in common here. And that we live internationally, Intercultural. And Ahmed and Helen, you're actually born into an intercultural context. And I would love to hear a little bit more about that. Now, there's a term that floats around the internet called TCK. Third Culture Kid. Or when the kid grows up, it becomes a TCP. Third Culture Person. But what is that for you? And in which way are you, quote unquote, third culture kid or third culture person? Any of you? 
Maggie Reinhart | 03:33  
I think for me, I did most of my growing as a person in high school. And since that was in the UAE, I think that has definitely shaped me to be a TCK. 
Ahmed Msouya | 03:47  
I think for me, I've always been exposed to a lot of different cultures. Living in Dubai for my whole life and everything. And having the influence from my parents and their Tanzanian culture that's brought on to me. But the influence of religion. Because religion is a lot, like another really big part of my culture, being a Muslim. But because I've had a lot of different friends from different backgrounds as well. I used to live in a different house where it was primarily a lot of Indians and Southeast Asians from that kind of background. 
And then I kind of moved to another place where it was predominantly Arabs in my neighborhood. So I was always exposed to a lot of different kinds of people. And I think that's what kind of helped me progress as a TCK or a TCP. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 04:34  
Yeah, I have to agree with that. Because as you're exposed to so many different cultures, you kind of grow like a comedian. Because you have to adapt and change and so on. 
So for me, that's the first thing that comes to mind when I hear TCK. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 04:48  
So you're all giving some examples of being a TCK. Growing up in a culture that is a mixed bag of many different cultural expressions. Can you recall any stories that might illustrate how mixed that is and what that looks like? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 05:05  
I one time, because growing up in the UAE, they have this term called, you have a Dubai accent. 
Maggie Reinhart | 05:06  
Remember. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 05:12  
Because, you know, depending on who you're talking to, your accent changes. And I remember one time, I was hanging out with a lot of Egyptian friends of mine. And at one point, my friend turned to me and said, Helen, like, you're starting to sound like us. You speak like an Arab now. 
Like, So then I was like, I just, I never realized that I was doing that. 
Maggie Reinhart | 05:27  
You're using the same phrases. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 05:33  
So that's just one funny story that I picked up. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 05:37  
So if I hear you, that ability to blend in, adapt, is something that you just do? Yeah, you. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 05:45  
Just, I think you just naturally do it without, you know, being aware. And then once you actually go to classes, for example, that explain this stuff, you're like, wait a second, I already know this. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 05:57  
That's great. So very agile. 
Ahmed Msouya | 06:00  
I think for me, you said something about like accents and everything, right? But for me, it was more about tiny little gestures as well. 
So I was, I had this other like after school activity where it's like extra math or something like that. And a lot of my friends, again, like I said, they were Indian. And they always used to, whenever they were saying yes, they shake their head a little bit. And so I kind of started picking it up as well. And one day I got back home and my mom had asked me if I had taken out the garbage or done all my chores. And I responded with a little head shake. And she was like, Ahmed, where'd you pick that up from? And I'm like, it must have been from my friends after school. 
And then again, there, whenever I'd come to school, I'd sound a little bit more Arab than I would be when I'd be at home. And I kind of picked things like that up and kind of just progressed from there. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 06:49  
Great example. 
Maggie Reinhart | 06:51  
I have kind of an accent story. So a few summers ago, I came back to the United States and I saw my best friends who have been my best friends, you know, forever. And they were like, Maggie, you sound so different. And I was like, what do you mean? And they're like, you do not, you don't sound Arab, but you don't sound American. I was like, I don't know. I guess it just, you know, happens. 
And then I stay in the U .S. For two days and it's gone. 
And then I just have a regular American accent again. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 07:22  
So it's again adapting fast and blending in with your environment. That's great. Now, when growing up in that context, you know, there's all kinds of people are saying, you know, that must be difficult or, you know, you're not surrounded by your own people. But can you think of things that you really enjoyed about that multicultural, multicolored mix of people around you? What was a fun experience, positive experience? I. 
Ahmed Msouya | 07:53  
Don't know if I have any specific examples per se, but kind of we already touched on it a little bit. I think just being able to go between many different friend groups. That was something that I really valued. And I think that was only possible because I was at TCK. 
Like maybe I'd have one friend group that didn't necessarily agree with the other. But for me, it was easy to interact with them and then easily switch over to the other one whenever I felt like it. And I thought that was really nice. 
You know, I got to meet a lot more people, see a lot more different things, different perspectives. And yeah. 
Maggie Reinhart | 08:24  
Yeah. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 08:25  
Yeah. I kind of agree on that. Because I remember in school, I would always have like a group of friends who were mostly Indian or something. And the other group of friends who were like more Western. And I would always be the one in between having to sort out my busy schedule as a 10 -year -old girl. 
Like, I'll sit with you guys, break time, and then you guys lunchtime. And I remember I was always that person as well where if someone was having trouble, I'd be like, Helen, this person. I'd always have to like solve the problem for them. 
So I was always that in -between person. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 08:53  
A bit of mediation there as well. Yeah. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 08:55  
Cultural mediation. 
Ahmed Msouya | 08:57  
I think it helps as well with teachers, I think. A lot of teachers have different teaching styles and they come from different backgrounds and everything. And for like a lot of people, if you've only known one sort of teaching style or based on whatever culture they're from, it's hard to kind of switch between different people. But for me, I found that a little bit more easier because I guess because of. 
Shelley Reinhart| 09:17  
My background. Yeah. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 09:20  
So what did you appreciate about growing up in a multicultural context? 
Maggie Reinhart | 09:25  
Moving to the U .S., it was hard at first to kind of understand how to be a regular American. Does that exist? 
Shelley Reinhart| 09:38  
People say it does. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 09:41  
It. 
Maggie Reinhart | 09:42  
And I didn't really want to stick out, you know, as not a regular American. But the more I would talk to people and everything, you know, you just can't fit in to the point where, okay, I'm a regular American. 
So you just kind of roll with it and you just go with it. And I didn't really appreciate that I had those abilities until I moved to the U .S. And really got to work with them and really like show people them. 
So in a way, I guess it's good that I wasn't really accepted into the regular American kind of stereotype. So I was able to use my skills. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 10:19  
Yeah. We'll come back to that a bit more later on as well. But several of you touched on friendship. And friendship is a big thing in terms of growing, forming yourself, forming your own identity. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 10:35  
Some people. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 10:35  
Say that having such a mixed environment around you is confusing in terms of who you are or who you want to become. I see you nodding. But is that true? Absolutely. How do you deal with it? 
Maggie Reinhart | 10:53  
How I kind of think of it is, so I came a little later into the TCK game and world. But it was hard to kind of merge into that world. But then when you do, everyone is so different and everyone is so unique in their own way. And with ICI, we learned that you need to create culture. When there are opposite cultures and different cultures, you create culture where you are. 
So once you're in that diverse world, you create culture together. And that's how I would deal with it. Ask questions. In the U .S., you don't really ask as many questions. You kind of just be like, okay. But moving here, I've been able to ask so many questions, especially about Islam and the Arab culture. And it's just been great because now I have, again, skills and abilities to be able to question and to be able to create culture together when everyone's different. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 11:55  
That's great. 
Ahmed Msouya | 11:56  
For me, though, I never really saw it as necessarily too confusing being around a lot of mix of cultures. I think that's a lot thanks to my familial influence at home. Because my mom, she made sure that I'd always have these one set of values where I could always fall back on and everything. And because I was taught that that's kind of really ingrained in my culture, I never felt that if I'm interacting with all these other different people from different backgrounds, I could take different things from them, learn from them, experience things that I wouldn't have if I never met them. But at the same time, I'm keeping my own cultural integrity. But I think that's for me, that, like I said, it's a lot thanks to my familial influence and that kind of area of my life. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 12:41  
I have to agree with you as well, because, yes, in the social aspect, it would be kind of confusing because you never really fit in anywhere. And you can never classify yourself as either one or the other. You're always a mix. 
But then again, you know, having those morals from religion, you always have that side of identity that is completely stable. But then with the social, for me, it took a lot longer to really find out who I was in that place and finding, you know, how do I fit into these groups of people or how I'm made to interact with other people. But I find that because it took a lot longer, the moment when I kind of realized who I was in that aspect, it was a lot more of a strong realization and more knowledgeable in the way that I should and would interact with other people. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 13:29  
I'm picking up something that's fascinating here from all three of you, that there is, in the midst of all these options that you see around you and all these different ways of doing things, there is something that sort of anchors you and that makes it easier to navigate things. So, there's always something to come back to that holds you anchored. 
So, I'm curious, when you think about the, not the philosophical or religious side of anchoring, you know, like morals and values and everything, but if you think about the fun stuff, maybe quirky, crazy stuff that you do as a family or that you do regularly with your friends. Do you have any examples of like things that are reoccurring that you do as a family or that you do with your friends that is fun stuff that bring back good memories? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 14:21  
I think everyone who knows our family knows, the Blankenburgh, they camp a lot, like every single weekend they all camp. So, I think our family has always been the one that explores like new destinations and new places and we're always everywhere and constantly inviting new people over. We're like, they can come over. 
So, sometimes there has to be some restrictions because you can't have 100 people come over, but that's just one thing that we're always doing. 
Ahmed Msouya | 14:49  
I guess for me, I think I have two things. One of them is travel. My family really likes to travel a lot. Every chance we get on a vacation, we like to go to a new place and that's why we don't necessarily go back to Tanzania as often because we prefer to see different cultures, see different places, see different sites. And I think that's something that has influenced me a lot. And the second thing is it's kind of more frequent. Every Friday we go to my grandma's house and we spend lunch with each other and everything. And sometimes we'll play games or charades or something like that or board games or anything. And it kind of lightens up the mood. Everyone gets involved, my grandpa, my grandma, everyone. It's a really comical site. 
Sometimes it gets heated as well. We argue with each other. That's awesome. But yeah, it's kind of really refreshing when we have those kind of outings, especially when we're like as a huge family. And I think that's really, it's a good setback for the week. Once that's happened, we can all go back to the rest of our lives. It's like reset. 
Yeah, exactly. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 15:52  
That's great. 
Maggie Reinhart | 15:53  
I think for me, kind of similar to you, Helen, people. People have always been a part of our family. If you know my mom, she would talk to anyone, anywhere about anything, anytime. 
So usually we invite people over and we just get to know the community, especially our church community, our neighborhood community. And that's always just been a big part. 
So I would say other people are a part of our family and our family's culture and activities. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 16:29  
You mentioned earlier on, Agida, this idea of creating culture is one of the new things that you've learned in the last few years, which alludes to Intercultural intelligence and some of the things that we teach in the Intercultural Intelligence Program. So I just want to shift gears and I'm curious, how, as a young person, how did you get interested in Intercultural intelligence? Because it's one thing to grow up in an intercultural environment, but to actually systematically study it, that's not for everybody. 
So how did that start for you and how did you end up in the Intercultural intelligence space? 
Maggie Reinhart | 17:13  
Well, for me, my mom works at Knowledge Works. And so she would come home every day at the dinner table and we would talk and she would talk about ICI and her day at work and working with people and everything. And of course, my rebellious self, I was like, yeah, like, you know, it's just my mom thing. 
And then she kind of gave me these resources and videos of ICI and the world of diversity and everything. And I was like, OK, this actually seems kind of cool. I'll give it a shot. 
And then I came to training and I absolutely fell in love with it. And I just wanted to use it all the time now. And I still want to use it all the time. 
So that's how I really got into it. 
Ahmed Msouya | 17:58  
For me as well, it's kind of your mom that kind of introduced it to me and everything. I actually remember it was my sister had come back from school one day and she told me that, Ahmed, you know, Maggie's mom has this really cool thing. And she was talking about how she'd love for you to join it because you're a TCK. And I was like, sure, why not? There's just another thing to add to my day. And when we first met, you talked to me all about how it can help you market yourself, understand things about yourself. And I thought that was really interesting, especially going forward, going into university and everything and then going even the rest of my life. I thought that'd be a valuable skill for me just to have in general. And so I just started the course. And ever since I've really enjoyed it. 
Yeah. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 18:45  
I'd have to say I'm a lot more Maggie type because of course, Marco is my dad. So every single night at the dinner table, whether I realize it or not, it would always be the topic of interest that was discussed. And, you know, growing up, it just I think it was just part of our normal language. 
Like I thought everybody talked about it. And so, of course, you know, you grow up, you get more knowledge about the world around you. And I think it was going into the training and was like, OK, just another, you know, probably beneficial thing that I could add to things I've done. But then as I went through it, I was like listening to everybody discussing it. And so I love that. And the more we discussed, I saw how much it was integrated into the world and how much it was used and how much of a tool it is for problem solving, which I love. I love solving problems and bringing people together and connecting it. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 19:45  
Since you are instigator for Armand and Maggie, I'm just curious, as you were starting to talk about ICI to them, what were you hoping for? What were you thinking of in terms of their lives? 
Shelley Reinhart| 20:04  
When I first was introduced to the three colors and that simple framework for how to see the world and understand the world, it just changed everything. And it changed the way I saw things. 
So I would talk about that at dinner. This is an interesting honor -shame situation. This is the world view that they're viewing this from. Let's talk about that. And it was starting to sink in. They were starting to see it from that lens. 
And then when I would go to UAS, Universal American School, where I sometimes teach and interact there, I would talk about the three world views. 
And your sister was really interested. She was like, what do you mean? Power fear? What is that? And she would just ask lots of questions. And I just knew the two of you would really connect. 
So just knowing that it's going to change the way you see the world. It's going to help you categorize it and understand it in a way that's just so helpful. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 21:07  
So let's put that to the test. So Shelley hoped that it would change the way you see the world. Yes, Did that happen? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 21:15  
Fingers crossed. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 21:19  
Yes. Any of the three of. 
Ahmed Msouya | 21:22  
I mean, I just think it's so applicable to everything, you know, like you said, you start talking about it at the dinner table. And I think the same sort of thing kind of happened when I started introducing it to my family. We'd always have lunch with each other and I'd start saying, I'd let them tell me about their days, you know, what kind of happened. 
And then I'd start categorizing for them. I'm like, maybe this is related to honor -shame, this is related to power fear, innocent guilt. Or maybe you interpreted it this way because we come from maybe an honor -shame background or an innocent guilt background or what kind of is influencing our decisions. And I found that really interesting because when you think about it, there's so many different situations where when you're thinking about three -color worldviews, you see the situation differently. And you see not only your own perspective, you see another person's perspective. And because of that, it's actually helped me out a lot when I'm interacting with people, especially strangers that I never knew. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 22:18  
Yeah, for me, it's definitely like, you know, you put on a whole set of new glasses after living your whole life, you know, seeing blurry vision. You hear all the voices and everything, but then you put on the glasses and it all makes sense. And I think that was just one of the joys where I was like, like bulb, like everything makes sense now. 
Shelley Reinhart| 22:33  
Light. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 22:35  
And I understand why this person might react that way and how I can, you know, interact with them on a more influential, more positive note, which I just love. So I definitely see that everywhere around me. 
Maggie Reinhart | 22:49  
For, yeah, it's kind of the same for me. I just, well, at the time when I was actually taking the course, I was struggling with some people at school. I just didn't understand why they did this or like, why do they think this way? It's so frustrating. 
And then, you know, I took the class and I realized, well, that's what they've known their whole life. Coming from America, coming from an innocent guilt background, it's always, okay, well, what's right and what's wrong? That's the mindset that I had. And I, you know, just was frustrated. 
And then taking this course, it really did show me that it's not, the world is not only innocence guilt. That's not how the world should be viewed. It's viewed with the three different worldviews. And there's just so much more to just this one perspective. And that really helps me even talk to the people at school and view the situation differently. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 23:47  
Yeah, with the perspective as well, like even just reading an article, for example, you know, knowing this, you kind of can guess where this, you know, journalist or whoever, you know, comes from. And then I think I love that as well, because then it stimulates you to go research other articles based around the same topic to get a more universal and whole story. 
Ahmed Msouya | 24:07  
I really agree with the research part as well. Because when I started finding out about how some cultures are more predominantly honor shame, some are more innocent guilt. I kind of, I found that when I was looking it up, it's really steeped in their history. And like, if you look back as well, you see a lot of examples of that. And you find a lot of interesting things about a culture or a place that you never would have found out about in the first place. I think that was really good. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 24:35  
We just dove in talking about FICI. And you gave some practical examples. But if I put you on the spot, what in the world is Intercultural intelligence? Maggie already alluded to creating culture as a big part, being able to create culture as a big part of it. But how would you describe it to somebody who's never heard of this thing before? What would you say are important components of it? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 25:05  
This is where I wish there was a dictionary definition. 
Shelley Reinhart| 25:09  
Nope. I. 
Maggie Reinhart | 25:10  
Would say, if no one, if they had never heard of it, I would say it is viewing the world through different lenses. And understanding that the world is not the same. And I know that's such like a basic thing to say, the world's not the same. But it's really not. 
Like the more you dive into it and understand our history as humans and understand everything is different in all different parts of the world. So that's the first thing, understanding that the world is not the same. And one way is not right or the other. And Yeah, absolutely. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 25:47  
Possibly having a language to actually talk about it. Because it's one thing to say we are all different. 
Yeah. But to not know how to articulate that beyond the point of saying, you're American or you're Emirati or you're Korean. Instead, having a more neutral language to actually talk about in which way are we different. I think. 
Ahmed Msouya | 26:12  
Actually how you said over articulating is really important. Because as TCKs, for me at least, I felt maybe vaguely that I've already been doing maybe some of the things that ICI teaches me because of my background. But then after learning about it became easier to kind of see everything more clearly and then to explain it more clearly as well. To explain maybe how I feel, maybe I should act this way around someone else. But why am I doing that? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 26:41  
Yeah. For me, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear ICI is the ability to explain ICI to another person. Not through a presentation, but through the way that you act and interact and you speak, of course, as we discussed. And the ability to really adapt according to those around you. And you're really creating a culture, whether it's one on one or one out of ten. But creating that atmosphere where everyone feels safe and not judged or dishonored or overpowered or so on. But really being able to do that in those settings. 
Maggie Reinhart | 27:16  
Yeah. And especially when you're trying to learn other cultures and understand other cultures and other people, you don't want to be offensive. And some people kind of hold back with questions or hold back with certain different things. But with ICI, you know it's safe. 
You know that you can use that to understand cultures correctly and understand without offending anyone. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 27:42  
So if that's the case, you've already given examples along these lines, but what do you do with it? So, Ahmed, you are studying virtually. 
Yeah. You're studying at a Canadian university. You actually went back to the States. You're actually studying in the US. And Helen is on her way to hopefully start studying in Europe. What do you do with ICI? From the simple, you know, friendship, family relationships to the way you interact with your professors, peers, textbooks maybe. What do you do with it? I. 
Ahmed Msouya | 28:23  
Mean, for me, I think especially going into university and anything, it really helps with making new friends. Because I can kind of see where we'd use something similar, let's say, and maybe where we'd use something different and how we'd get along based on that. And I feel like it's, like I said before, it's easy to flip between friend groups. And it's just overall, it's easy to meet new people using ICI. Because you understand people so well now with the tools that ICI gives you, it's easier to talk to them, interact with them, understand some of their actions. And you just build relationships that are going to last longer in general. And I feel like if we're talking about maybe the academic setting as well, honestly, being in the UAE, I've learned a certain way. 
I mean, my school is predominantly innocence, guilt, but there are aspects of honour, shame as well within it. But now I'm going to a place where it's predominantly only innocence, guilt. And because I'm aware of that now, the transition is obviously going to be much more smoother than if I had no knowledge whatsoever. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 29:25  
That's interesting. Can I just put you on the spot there? You're saying the university in Canada is more innocence, guilt oriented the way they run. Do you have any examples of what that looks like? How do you notice it? 
Ahmed Msouya | 29:39  
I think I notice it. It's been a bit difficult, to be honest, being it's been online and everything. 
So I haven't been able to experience it to the full extent that I'd normally experience it. But I think from the attitude, let's say, of my teachers, for example, it's a lot more about self -learning and questioning about what you're learning about. And kind of doing a lot of that, a lot of your study by yourself, you know, taking the interest for yourself. Not necessarily about the grade that you get, but more about the process and the journey to getting that grade. And I think that in and of itself is very different from kind of what I experienced here in school. 
I mean, there are elements of that in my school, like I said, it's innocence, guilt. But I feel like a lot of emphasis is placed on the grade at times over here. 
You know, you do this to get this grade so that you can get to this place. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 30:33  
Is the grade, because you're saying more, you're experiencing more individual approach in the university you're in right now. Out of interest, and you mentioned there's the grade itself. Is the grade linked to how your family is viewed or the height, you know, how well you perform in school, that that's linked to the family in some way or another? I. 
Ahmed Msouya | 30:57  
Think for sure it would be that way. And how I perform in school or how I perform in general will always be linked back to my family. And it happens even with my mom and my dad and everything. We have this thing in Tanzania, sometimes you won't be called by your name, you'll be called by your title. 
So some people, they call my mom doctor instead of her name Khadija. Because that's kind of her profession, that's what she's known as. 
And then some people will be given honor titles, you know, boss, chief, based on what they do, how they interact with other people. And I think because of that kind of culture that they come from, obviously the same thing applies to me. How I perform reflects back on them as well. 
Shelley Reinhart| 31:41  
What do you want to do for your career? 
Ahmed Msouya | 31:45  
I'm currently studying biology on track to pre -med. 
Shelley Reinhart| 31:48  
Okay, so be a doctor, a medical doctor. Exactly, yeah. 
So how do you see ICI affecting your medical practice, just out. 
Ahmed Msouya | 31:55  
Of curiosity? I think it's very important, especially when talking with different patients. Obviously I've talked with my mom as well and she says the same thing. 
Sometimes you have a doctor who's very well abled, they're very well versed in the field that they're in. But when it comes to communicating with the patients and making them feel like it's a good environment, a good atmosphere, a place of healing and everything like that. That's where some people fail. And that's a very critical thing in a medical profession. You need to have that ability. And I think with ICI it makes it much more easier to kind of navigate and have that sort of communication. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 32:35  
So Maggie, you're now one year back into studies. One semester. One semester into studies in the US. How does it show up day to day for you? 
Maggie Reinhart | 32:46  
So where I am, it is very much, and I don't want to stereotype, but it is very much American driven, innocence, guilt. A lot of people are white. There are very few people who are not white. And so it's been difficult using just that. Because when you think ICI, you think like multiple different races and everything. But honestly, ICI works with just a regular group of people too, because each person is different and they have their own different amounts of three world views. One thing that I've noticed is that in the southern United States, while it is still innocence, guilt, there is honor, shame, honoring your family, honoring, making sure that you are doing your parents proud. You said something about my mom. That's not okay. 
Like that's my family you're going after. And I definitely have noticed that where I am too. 
So that's been really helpful. It's just like it's opening my eyes to see that we aren't all the same. It's not just, all Americans are the same or, all Africans are the same or all Arabs are the same. It's given me lenses to look even deeper into my own culture and my own, you know. 
Yeah. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 34:11  
Yeah. Leading off what Maggie said, of course, I'm still finishing up high school. And for me, of course, not having gone to college and so on, it really starts, you know, who am I as a person? 
Like, what is what cultures make up me? And so I love that because it really starts at the core and then ventures outward because, you know, once you discover who you are and how you're made, like why you act and so on, then you really understand how to interact with the world around you as we've, you know, said previous times as well. 
So I think it's really inward, outward process. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 34:44  
So we're sort of reaching the end of our time. And all three of you had the privilege to be part of the ICI certification because Knowledge Works has a scholarship for teenagers. And we, you know, we have a vision to raise up young people who are world changers. And that's, you know, Shelley already alluded to it earlier when she started saying you should join this program. 
So if you had a chance to talk to other teens about this program, why should they bother? What would you say to them? Why would they have to consider Intercultural intelligence as something to take into their bag of tools into the future? 
Helen Blankenburgh | 35:34  
I'm very tempted to say you all understand me, you grew up. But that won't convince them. But I would definitely say that as a younger generation, I find that for us is very difficult to interact sometimes because everyone's always on their phones. And it's like very awkward sometimes when you meet a new person, you're like, what am I supposed to like, talk about? Or like, I don't know, like, especially nowadays, I'm so scared to talk about anything with politics or races, because I'm like, how am I going to defend that person? And ISEI, I think it really stretches your tools and your abilities to just interact with people on a more comfortable level. And to really kind of understand them and analyze them. Not that you're drawing final conclusions, but really understanding the person. And because of that, you're more interested in your relationship with that person, which I think is always very beneficial. 
Ahmed Msouya | 36:28  
I completely agree with everything that you said. I think there's like a lot of practicality to it in general. 
I mean, we've learned we had some of these case studies where a lot of businesses have lost out a lot of money because they weren't necessarily culturally aware about the situation that they were in. And I think that kind of appeal, especially to our generation, I think we're starting to get more into, OK, how can we... A lot of people are business oriented is what I'm saying. I have a lot of friends as well who want to go into sports management. And I feel like if they were to learn about things that are in ISEI or a lot about more about culture, it'll help give them an edge on other people that they're competing with against. And I think that's a really thing that makes the program so attractive. 
Maggie Reinhart | 37:12  
And for me, honestly, I would just say life gets easier because life is so complicated. And especially when you're trying to understand people and understand how to fit into society, it just makes it easier because you're learning these things and these tools and you just approach situations different. 
So like if you're in a conflict with a co -worker or a peer, you kind of... If you look through the ISEI lens, you say, OK, so this is a problem because this and this. It just makes things easier with conflict. You understand. And for me, I love to know everything. I don't want any gray spaces or anything like that. And so with ISEI, getting to know the world, like it kind of puts that in perspective. 
Helen Blankenburgh | 38:01  
Yeah. And I must say, whenever I hear ISEI, the first thing I kind of impression I got was it was do with people. But I feel like it's so relevant for both experts and introverts. 
I mean, you could be sitting in your office all day and working on graphics design and you could definitely still use it on how you present whatever you're designing. So it really is just a universal tool that anybody can use in any situation. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 38:26  
Wow. Thank you so much. Great conversation. Great conversation. 
Shelley Reinhart| 38:30  
It was great. 
Maggie Reinhart | 38:30  
Thanks for having us. Yeah. Thank you. 
Shelley Reinhart| 38:34  
The students that you're hearing from today are all recipients of our Intercultural Intelligence Student Scholarship. And these students were chosen because they already are practicing cultural intelligence in their day to day lives and in their relationships. They clearly have a desire to relate to people who have a very different way of seeing the world than they do. We're really proud of these students and the work they've done on their ICI journey with KnowledgeWorkx. We're confident that they will be cultural bridge builders and world changers. If you're a student and you're listening and you'd like to apply for a scholarship to join the Intercultural journey with KnowledgeWorkx, you'll find the link in the notes of this podcast. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 39:23  
Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of the Cultural Agility Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, share it with someone. The best way to help us out is by leaving a review on your favorite podcast app or channel and recommend this podcast to people around you. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 39:37  
Or forward. 
Marco Blankenburgh | 39:41  
As always, if any of the topics we discussed today intrigue you will find links to articles discussing them in greater depth in the podcast notes. If you would like to learn more about Intercultural intelligence and how you can become more culturally agile, you can find more information and hundreds of articles at KnowledgeWorkx .com. A special thanks to Jason Carter for composing the music on this podcast and to the whole KnowledgeWorkx team for making this podcast a success. Thank you, Nita Rodriguez, Ara Azizbekyan, Rajitha Raj and thanks to Vipin George for audio production, Rosalind Raj for scheduling and Caleb Strauss for marketing and helping produce this podcast.