Bio: Mark Di Ianni

          Hello! My name is Mark Di Ianni and I am currently a junior at Keene State College planning to graduate a semester early with a degree in Psychology. I am grateful and humbled by the opportunity to travel to the amazing country of Rwanda. I can not express enough the gratitude I have for Dr. Therese Seibert and everyone else that has made this trip a possibility for me. The main goal I have in making this trip is to learn as much as I possibly can from Rwandan culture. I am particularly interested in learning about how Rwandans have been able to reconcile and build peace since the genocide in 1994. I would like to return with an understanding of the amount of hope that Rwandans have as they move towards the future. I have been researching heavily a theory developed by a professor, Anthony Scioli, which outlines the motives and qualities that are necessary to develop hope within an individual. I am also excited to help out those who are in need by bringing donated supplies and by taking the knowledge I gain about Rwandan culture and teaching others here in America in order to dissolve the false notions many people have about cultures other than our own. 
        I have traveled a lot throughout my life and I believe it to be one of the most important experiences that anyone can participate in. I have been to many European countries as well as traveled around the U.S., but I believe the experience of traveling to Rwanda will be a very new and interesting endeavor compared to my past traveling experience. By leaving my comfort zone and traveling to interesting places like Rwanda I believe that I can gain an interesting and unique perspective on life. As a Psychologist, I believe that we construct our perceptions of reality based on our perspective. This perspective can be narrowed and limited by not leaving our comfort zone. By gaining many new and interesting perspectives I believe that we can become enriched as individuals. I will personally be able to use the enrichment that I gain from my experience in Rwandan to help other people as I continue towards a career in counseling psychology. I also expect to learn new languages, to learn about reconciliation and peace building, and to learn how to become a more globally engaged citizen in a world heading closer and closer towards globalization.