When Nora Griffin-Wiesner was 13 years old, she met an asylum seeker from Rwanda. The asylum seeker (who we’ll refer to as George to protect his identity) frequently joined their family dinners and quickly became a “part of the family.”
Griffin-Wiesner recalls when George attended one of her soccer games at a local park. He cheered loudly for her throughout the game, which was very different from how other family and friends acted. “I was embarrassed,” Griffin-Wiesner said. It was one of the first times she’d been really challenged to think about diversity, especially in terms of social norms. Even though she was uncomfortable, it made her want to learn more, and broaden her perspective.
Those early interactions with George, and conversations with her family about culture and diversity, ultimately led Griffin-Wiesner to the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), where she double-majored in International Studies and Sociology, with a minor in Hispanic Studies. She was also a student athlete, competing with the soccer team, and a University Honors student.
UMD, she said, was also great for her “wandering self.”
During the summer of 2022, she was accepted into the Undergraduate Research Study Abroad (URSA) program, an experience that helped continue her pursuit of cultural awareness.
URSA is open to students in any degree field. Students spend the spring semester developing their research proposal before traveling abroad to Morocco, where they conduct research while living with host families. Griffin-Wiesner’s project focused on immigration. While in Morocco, she conducted interviews with migrant-serving organizations to learn about barriers migrants face in that country.
Griffin-Wiesner said her time abroad expanded on the experiences she’d shared with her family when she was younger. “The culture shock was real,” she said. “It helped me gain perspective and empathy.”
After graduating from UMD in 2023, Griffin-Wiesner went to work at the Minnesota Humanities Center as an Americorps fellow. After her fellowship, she will pursue a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Salamanca in Spain, with the ultimate goal of doing cross cultural work as a career.