Four Beaufort County Community College students became the first to complete capstone presentations for the college’s Scholar of Global Distinction program, marking a milestone for an initiative that launched last year. The program encourages students to examine other cultures and zoom out to see global perspectives.
Dr. Hazael Andrew, Associate Director of UNC Worldview at UNC Chapel Hill, joined virtually to offer remarks.
“Enrolling in the Global Distinction program really requires discipline, a lot of hard work, and persistence,” Dr. Andrew said. “Those are the very qualities that will serve you well as you move forward, whether that means advancing in your careers or transferring to a four-year institution.”
A Program Built on Global Engagement
The Scholar of Global Distinction program is an initiative of UNC Chapel Hill in cooperation with North Carolina community colleges. Beaufort CCC is the program’s 37th global distinction campus. Students who complete it earn a certificate from UNC Chapel Hill and a medallion worn at graduation.
To complete the program, students must finish at least 15 credit hours of globally intensive coursework, participate in eight international activities and dialogues, and complete 30 hours in study abroad or a domestic intercultural experience.
The four presenting students were Zofia Cheeseman, Adan Plasencia Garcia, Maria Mendoza Soto, and Zoey Ormond.
Finding What Cultures Share
Plasencia Garcia’s presentation, “The Underlying Universal Values Found in Tradition,” examined what a Chinese lantern festival, the Islamic observance of Hajj, and the Latin American tradition of Las Posadas share beneath their surface differences. His answer centered on cultural universalism, the idea that fundamental human values transcend local customs.
“It’s within these diverse cultural traditions that we can relate our most personal selves,” Plasencia Garcia said. “We can view our shared humanity and share these same fundamental human values that make it possible to relate to people across the globe.”
He drew a clear line between finding common ground and erasing difference. “Cultural universalism does not discount diverse cultural expression,” he said. “It is not about making everybody the same. It’s about seeing the common principles that relate us.”
What a Classroom Reveals About the World
Mendoza Soto, who learned English as a second language, built her presentation around time spent volunteering in an elementary ESL classroom. She observed students from Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Spain navigating the shared experience of language learning.
“Before my volunteer experience, I honestly thought of culture as mostly traditions, something that separates people into groups or where they come from,” she said. “What I experienced actually challenged that completely.”
What she saw in the classroom reshaped how she thinks about communication and connection. “I realized that connection doesn’t come from being the same,” Mendoza Soto said. “It actually comes from going through similar things. Shared struggle created understanding in ways that words sometimes couldn’t.”
She connected the experience to larger global patterns. “Classrooms are not just isolated,” she said. “They reflect a larger global pattern, like migration, cultural blending, and language diversity.”
Cheeseman’s presentation, “Deeper Than the Surface,” drew on encounters with Danish exchange students, a study abroad trip to London, and lectures on topics including Latin American migration and the U.S.-Japan relationship. Ormond, a high school junior, spoke about growing up in a small North Carolina town with little cultural exposure and how a study abroad experience in Puerto Rico shifted her perspective.
A First Class That Raised the Bar
As the first cohort to reach this milestone, the four students set a high bar for those who follow. The program asks students to investigate the world, recognize perspectives beyond their own, and reflect on their role as citizens in a global community.