ECHO Extra:
And Then It All Made Sense!

by ECHO Magazine

January 3, 2021

Posted: January 3, 2021

ECHO Extra:
And Then It All Made Sense!


by ECHO Magazine

One of the many students and alumni who continue to be impacted by the teaching and mentorship of LBC | Capital’s Dr. Ed Scheuerman is Chantal Peterson ’23. Just after Thanksgiving break in 2020, she sent an email to her professor titled, “…and then it all made sense!” Read Chantal’s message below:

Hi Dr. Ed!

I experienced a minor subculture today! I’m staying with a friend for the first part of break, so today I visited her church. It is a different denomination from what I have experienced, and from the moment I stepped into the door, I realized how little I knew of what to expect. Thus, I compelled to observe. I observed how the congregants had two things: their own rhythms (they knew what to do and when to do it intuitively) and their own unspoken habits (habits that required no words and few thoughts: what door to use to walk into the sanctuary, where to seat, when to speak and when to be silent).

I noticed that in response, I watched people and followed my friend’s family. I realized later that as I observed and was fully engaged in understanding, I likely appeared “reserved” to outsiders. But how could I have been flippant, or my natural self, without knowing what others in this new place considered to be in line or out of place? Furthermore, I thought, how many times do we think international students are quiet, when in fact they are taking in all that is going on around them? I also realized that I profiled or made comparisons and parallels to previous experiences (church visits).

Before today, I had a vague idea that ICS principles should be taught to everyone. But today, I learned why. I learned just how often we experience mini subcultures all the time! After all, we step into new environments all the time! And although ICS refers to cross-cultural experiences, we can apply ICS principles to any new environment!

My experience today was really cool because a lot more about what I’ve been learning in class and about my major in general made sense because of it. For that reason, I thought I’d share.

Thanks for reading.

In His good, good hands,

Chantal Peterson (’23)

Read the entire Winter 2021 issue of The ECHO Magazine!

THE ECHO

Read the entire Winter 2021 issue of The ECHO Magazine!

THE ECHO