Name: Davon Moseley

Status: Senior

Major: Kinesiology

Hometown: Maryland

Program: Dubai in the UAE: The Globalization of Consumerism and Community

My experience abroad opened my eyes to my fully realizing my passion for what I want to do and pursue in my career. Before going abroad, I would limit myself to how much I can do and potentially accomplish in my career. While in Dubai we were told that Sheikh Mohammed wanted to remove the word impossible from the dictionary because he felt that anything that he and the rest of leaders of the Emirates put their mind to, they could accomplish. This made me no longer want to limit myself because the leaders of Dubai turned the nation from a desert to a thriving nation within one generation. Personally, I have become more humble from my experience. Before going to Dubai, I had a notion that everyone lived lavishly but this is from the truth. The majority of the population is poor working class and they work nearly. 24 hours 7 days a week to build Dubai to what it is today. I did not have a true opportunity to experience having communicate in a different language because everyone in Dubai communicated in English. I learned a tremendous amount from the Middle Eastern culture, specifically I learned a lot of life lessons. When I spoke to the Emirati citizens, they provided me with wisdom to help navigate through life. I did not have any preconceived myths about studying abroad. Prior to going to Dubai, I thought that the country would be very strict about certain things but I felt very lacked while I was over there. I feel that my story would definitely relate to other students and people could see themselves in my shoes. I'm a part of the first generation in my family to go to college and no one in my family has studied abroad before so this was an entirely new experience for me and my family. Studying abroad in Dubai was the greatest experience of my life. I met amazing people and we all became close very quickly. Every day was a new adventure and I never wanted the program to end. I am truly thankful for being selected to go to Dubai. If I could do it all over again, I would and I would not change anything.