Learning first generation

Whenever I am asked the questions"What are you?"or"What ethnicity are you?"I always pause before replying. Having been born in America,I want to reply,"American."I celebrate the Fourth of July every year,listen to American pop music,attended American schools my entire life and grew up chasing after the American dream. However,because my Indian heritage can be traced for generations and because of how much Indian culture is a part of my day-to-day life,it also makes sense to me to reply,"Indian."I mean,I cannot count how many times I have begged my parents to take me to the Indian grocery store so that I could have kulfi or the number of pictures I have taken in traditional Indian clothing. Further,based on my appearance,people usually judge that I am Indian. So,feeling that both places are equally a part of me,I usually settle on"Indian American.”

There is no easy answer to those questions,just as there was no easy answer for me as I navigated being a first-generation Indian American growing up.

"You can't trust boys,"my mom would repeatedly tell me. Yet right after,she would turn to tell my brother,"You can't trust girls."I remember finding this funny growing up,but I never questioned it to my parents' faces. Both hailing from small villages in India,my parents had for the most part studied in schools that were single-gender. To send their kids to coeducational public schools here was an adjustment. When it came to play dates,they would encourage me to only have girl friends over,and when it came to school projects,they thought it best for me to choose girl partners.

When I started high school,I chose to go out for various extracurriculars that my school hosted. But to my parents,my focus should have been mainly,if not solely,on academia. It was there where I would get the most returns on my efforts. Despite these expectations,I went into high school open-minded. I was on my school's tennis team. I was an editor for my school paper. I joined service organizations. And while all these activities were draining,they were also what made my high school experience worthwhile — something that I think my parents see now,realizing how these experiences have helped mold me into the person I am today.

In my 10th-grade honors English class,I was assigned to read"The Joy Luck Club"by Amy Tan. Initially,I saw how thick the novel was and was scared off. We'd have a reading comprehension test on the material later,and if the material was dense,I knew I would have trouble. Yet this was not the case.

The book was on Chinese immigrant families who start the Joy Luck Club,where the woman play mahjong,and cook traditional food. This scene reminded me of my own small gatherings,where my aunts and uncles would exchange conversations about work and life with each other over traditional desi food.

These stories of daughters and their interactions with their mothers were extremely relatable. In the novel,Jing-Mei Woo talks of her mother's unwavering faith in her despite her failures. When her mother gifts her her old piano even after a failed recital,the narrator is unsure if she can play again,yet her mother pushes her anyway. The feeling of not believing in myself to the extent that my parents did was one that I could relate to.

My mother has shared that same unwavering belief in me,even when I have not believed in myself. In first grade,I had gotten third place in my class spelling bee,misspelling"direction"as"direccion."I ran into her arms crying,swearing that I would never attempt a spelling bee again. Yet she was calm,encouraging me anyway. Next year would be my year,she promised. She started giving me dictations to help me practice my spelling,and the next year,I did in fact win my class spelling bee. Reading the stories of other first-generation Americans has helped me realize that my experiences are not unique to me. They are universal,even if they are not national.

I understand the troubles my parents had raising my brother and me,having to move from a small village in India to a place that was foreign and different. The values that they brought with them were conservative,and helping them to see that certain aspects that were unique to American culture did not necessarily entail bad consequences for us children has been difficult. I mean,having a guy lab partner was not the end of the world,and neither was losing a spelling bee. I learned to find a harmony,showing my parents that I still respected their culture and cherished our roots while assimilating to life in America.

Host an exchange student and travel without leaving home

When she was 16, her parents started hosting exchange students, opening their Wisconsin home to two or three students at a time. Some were college students. Others were in high school. Most spent a year or two living in the U.S. with Blount's family, participating in their daily life and doing activities alongside them.

It could have been overwhelming. Instead, Blount said those years led to some of her most valued relationships and connected her to a network of "family" living all around the world.

"I just remember my fondest memories of all that crazy time was sitting around the table after dinner was done,"Blount said."We just sat and talked. We had our jokes, and we talked about really tough subjects."

Now living in St. Charles with a family of her own, Blount carries on the tradition of hosting exchange students. Last year, she worked with the nationwide Program of Academic Exchange to host a high school student from Germany.

But according to Kris De Mattos, the regional director for PAX programs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota, it's often difficult to find families like Blount's who will host students.

A shortage of host families

Through PAX's nationwide network of coordinators, host families are connected to exchange students between the ages of 15 and 18 for a semester of yearlong exchange experience. In Southeast Minnesota, PAX places roughly 50 students every year.

But finding host families for them, De Mattos said, is a yearly struggle. In fact, despite the reputation of Rochester's three high schools, those are some of the hardest to coordinate exchange students for.

Each high school in Rochester will accept up to three PAX students, but they need to be paired with host families in the school district by July 1 in order to register.

With the deadline so early in the summer, many families are on vacation and not thinking ahead to the school year.

De Mattos said she and local coordinators struggle every year to track down interested families and get them vetted in time.

They're currently experiencing that crunch, with just two PAX students registered for the coming school year. There's room in Rochester for seven more, but only if someone steps forward to host.

And the shortage isn't exclusive to Rochester. PAX places students in high schools throughout Southeast Minnesota, many of which accept two or three PAX students per year.

These have later deadlines, giving families more time to learn about hosting exchange students, but De Mattos said there are always openings for students that go unfilled because there weren't enough hosts.

Messy home? Not an issue

De Mattos said coordinators can address common fears stopping people from becoming host families.

"A lot of times people will have concerns like 'my house is too messy,'"De Mattos said, who has hosted seven students through PAX.

She said she shared these concerns when she started, but said she'd learned by hosting that"families are pretty much the same worldwide."

In other words, although the culture and language might be different, houses still get messy and parents still get frustrated.

Another concern stopping many from becoming host families is uncertainty about inviting a stranger to become part of the family for the year. But as Kari Berg of Lanesboro has found, there's no need for exchange students to be strangers.

Family Office Exchange Expands into Latin America

Family Office Exchange (FOX), a global learning and networking community of enterprise families and their key advisors, announced that it has launched the FOX Americas Family Enterprise Council for families in Latin America or interested in Latin America with its next meeting in Miami on April 25-26, 2018. This peer group of family leaders from prominent business-owning families from countries ranging from Chile to Canada will meet twice a year in Miami.
                                                     

Miguel López de Silanes, Managing Director of FOX for Europe and Latin America will moderate the Council along with Alexandre Monnier, President of FOX.

This is the third global Family Enterprise Council FOX has formed. The others are the FOX Global Family Enterprise Council in Europe and the FOX Australian Family Enterprise Council in Melbourne. FOX operates a total of 14 Councils for peer groups of family principals, family office executives, and advisors in the US and around the world.

“I have travelled throughout the region, interviewing families about their needs,” said Miguel López de Silanes. “The families are looking for best practices used by the leading families in the region and globally. They are also looking for partners with expertise in different markets in the region for advice but also for potential future co-investments.”

This new Council will provide the forum for up to 25 like-minded family leaders to share experiences, advice, and direction with other similar family leaders.

“We will also be drawing on the experience of FOX’s Councils in other countries,” added Alexandre Monnier, FOX President. “The expertise of FOX goes deep with extensive benchmarking data and a knowledge base from working with families around the world for nearly 30 years.”

“Ultimately, FOX Councils are valued for the trusted relationships members are able to forge. The Council members are selected for their suitability for the group and learn to trust each other from working together closely over the years.”

Exchange students visit EHS

EDWARDSVILLE -Edwardsville High School students have had the opportunity to interact with and get to know several students from both China and Germany the past couple of weeks.
                                                     

Fifteen German students and 28 Chinese students were visiting EHS and living with EHS host families as part of a German student exchange program being coordinated by EHS Teacher Levi Antrim and a Chinese student exchange program being coordinated by EHS Teacher Kevin Paur.

Antrim explained that he had just started a new German student exchange program through the German American Partnership Program (GAPP) in which he chose to partner with a school in Calw, Germany.

The 15 German students arrived in Edwardsville with their two teacher chaperones on Feb. 1 and began attending classes with their host EHS students the following day.  The German students followed the class schedule of their host EHS student for a few days before Antrim arranged for them to observe classes that were more of personal interest to the exchange students.

The exchange students’ days and evenings were filled with numerous opportunities to learn about EHS, the city of Edwardsville, SIUE, the St. Louis area, and the general life of Americans.  They went to Woodland Elementary one day to speak to the elementary students about how different life is in Germany compared to America.  They also toured SIUE and went bowling on campus, toured Busch Stadium and explored City Museum in St. Louis.

Antrim pointed out that he chose the city of Calw, located in southwestern Germany, because the size of the city, the school they’ll be visiting and the school’s classes are similar to Edwardsville.  Location was also important.  “The fact that they are in the middle of the Black Forest makes it so that we can have all kinds of beautiful things to see while we are there.  They are close to a bunch of different places that are interesting to go to,” Antrim said.  “Stuttgart is not too far away.  They are the home city of Hermann Hesse, a German author.”

Minnesota health exchange boasts record 116K signups

Minnesota's health insurance exchange announced Wednesday that it enrolled more than 116,000 residents in private plans this year, a record number that comes amid cuts and uncertainty for health care nationwide.
                                             

Open enrollment ended Sunday, and MNsure's signups in its fifth year narrowly beat its previous high of nearly 115,000. But this year's strong figures came in an enrollment period more than two weeks shorter.

MNsure chief executive Allison O'Toole said its performance showcased the importance of the flexibility that Minnesota and the 11 other states with their own exchanges have. While the federal HealthCare.gov portal slashed budgets for advertising and outreach and ended enrollment in mid-December, Minnesota was able to extend its own signup period and continue its campaigns to encourage residents to shop for insurance.

"We've never faced stronger headwinds than we did this year," O'Toole said. "We're so happy to be serving so many Minnesotans."

It also comes on the heels of signs of concern that the state's individual market — where shoppers who don't get coverage through their employers or public programs buy insurance — was nearing collapse. Every insurer providing coverage nearly left the market in 2016, and premiums jumped by double digits in both 2015 and 2016.

The Legislature stepped in last year with a pair of costly measures meant to help control premiums and stem insurers' heavy losses. O'Toole said their registration numbers were proof that the market was stabilizing.

More than 60 percent of MNsure shoppers qualified for federal tax credits on their plans, and the exchange said the average savings was $7,000 per year.

Wright-Patterson joins health information exchange

The 88th Medical Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the first military medical center in Ohio to participate in a civilian Health Information Exchange program. This program provides real-time patient information and improves communication with civilian providers.
                                       

 
Phasing in of the HIE initiative into the 88 MDG facility began in March 2015 by gradually introducing new capabilities for the clinical staff, providing real-time patient information.

Through collaboration with the Ohio Health Information Partnership, a Health Information Exchange and non-profit organization, patient records are kept current and physicians able to review patient encounters in a real-time environment. This data exchange allows physicians to coordinate patient care with outside civilian hospitals for the 58,000 patients cared for at Wright-Patterson.

Bonita Moy, 88 MDG HIE liaison, said by utilizing the HIE, the 88 MDG eliminates duplication of efforts by improving communication with physicians and care coordination with civilian medical facilities.

The CHR is a web-based record system that provides access to patient health data created in other facilities. The information includes patient’s treatment history, hospital encounters, allergies, medications, laboratory and radiology results.

Access to the CHR system is granted to clinical personnel working at the 88 MDG, including pediatrics, admissions and dispositions, utilization management, case management, in-house supervisors and the referral management center. The CHR can be retrieved through the Joint Legacy Viewer, streamlining access to patient information with a single log-on.

In addition to the benefits of seeing real-time record information, a service called Patient Notify, a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act certified secure messaging system, delivers a notification to the key members of the 88 MDG when a patient is either admitted or discharged from an outside facility or emergency room.

STUDENT SHARES EXCHANGE EXPERIENCE

This is a continuation of an article that was published in Issue 8.

Part II; You know the Delft University of Technology?
                                               

My university, the Delft University of Technology, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technological university. It is commonly seen as one of the top 20 universities worldwide for engineering in general, but also aerospace engineering. We have eight facilities which cover the whole range of engineering topics (including some economics) and about 19,000 students. Currently, most Bachelor degrees are still taught in Dutch, but the university is working on transitioning everything completely to English. The aerospace faculty offer Master’s programs solely in English. This is a great advantage, as it allows students from all over the world to come to Delft to enrich the faculty with their diversity.

In contrast to Embry-Riddle, we do not have any specializations in the Bachelor’s degree. We have courses in aeronautics, astronautics, and propulsion all together; we only specialize in our Master’s programs. There we have very diverse programs in Control & Simulation, Operations, Flight Performance & Propulsion, Spaceflight, Aerospace Structures & Materials, and Aerodynamics & Wind Energy. Delft University also offers further specializations for precisely the field of study you love most.

As for student life, Delft is a nice city: the university is so big, everything is very student friendly, and you can get discounts on restaurants and bars. And with Belgium and Germany as neighboring countries, there is a very good selection of tasty beers available everywhere (18+ only). For parties, you can even go to the big cities of Den Haag or Rotterdam via 10-minute train ride. We have a bar run by our student association-a great place to meet all the other Aerospace students.  Once a year we have a big party, Airbase, where the facility gets transformed into a big club with two dancefloors. It is really fun and is a great break from the usual studying in that building.