在丹佛大学与世界分享你的礼物

Sharing Your Gifts with the World at the University of Denver

Kwame Wiredu thought he had all the education he would need when he successfully completed his medical degree program.

The 28-year-old is from the city of Kumasi in the West African nation of Ghana. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Kwame Nkrumah'? University of Science and Technology in Kumasi in 2010. Then, in 2013 he received his medical degree from the same school.

But in the next few years, several things happened while Wiredu was practicing medicine that led him to seek more training.

In 2014, several countries near Ghana, including Sierra Leon, Liberia and Guinea, experienced widespread cases of the Ebola virus. The virus is extremely dangerous and spreads easily. Yet Wiredu noted² that Ghana’s leaders were doing little in the way of emergency preparations.

Then, in 2015, Wiredu noticed doctors in his country refusing to work because of poor working conditions and lack of government support.

He says this made him question the abilities of Ghana’s leaders to deal with major public health issues.

"If this happened somewhere else, like in the U.S., you would see all the media coming in to help. You’d see all the practitioners³ putting our minds together to do something to mitigate⁴ the impact. But…with all these cases…the health policymakers were more of economists⁵ than people who had that touch with health…So I asked myself, ‘How different would it be if you have a health policymaker who also has the health background?"

Wiredu says he decided⁶ then that if he wanted better public health policies, he would have help his leaders make them. And to do that, he says, he needed to be more informed himself.

So Wiredu decided to go back to school, this time in the United States. He entered the University of Denver in 2016 to seek a master’s degree in international relations and health policy.

The University of Denver, or DU, is a private research university in the city of Denver, the capital of the American state of Colorado. It was established in 1864 and serves about 11,600 students.

Wiredu says his interest in the school grew when it offered him a large amount of financial assistance. But he says he found the promise of a high quality education at DU even more appealing.

The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at DU offers programs that explore the larger health policy issues that interest Wiredu. He says the school’s strong infrastructure⁷ also won him over. And he says the small number of students per professor helped make his learning experience feel more personal.

However, Wiredu adds that his time in the U.S. has not been without difficulties.

The majority of American colleges and universities divide their yearly terms into two study periods called semesters. They are each usually three to four months long. But some schools, like DU, break their terms into shorter periods called quarters, each about 10 weeks. Wiredu says that with such a short study period, the classes move quickly and students can easily fall behind in their work.

Also, Wiredu says that people in Ghana do not treat others differently based on the color of their skin. It was only after he came to the United States that he experienced racism⁸, he says.

For example, during his first winter in Denver, Wiredu went to a store to buy some warm clothing with an American friend. Afterwards, his friend pointed⁹ out to that an employee had been following them the entire time they were in the store. His friend suggested it was because they are both black. The situation was hard for Wiredu to understand, but he says he started to experience similar incidents more and more.

"It is still a difficult thing for me to grasp, until someone draws my attention that, ‘Hey, this could be an…act of racism'…So, how it has affected¹⁰ me? I would say that is difficult for me to assess."

For Tanya Tanyarattinan, stories like Wiredu’s are a call to solve problems like hatred¹¹ and mistrust between different people. The 19-year-old says she hopes to do so little by little, by teaching people to enjoy and respect cultures they may not fully¹ understand.

Tanyarattinan is from Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, a town just outside of Bangkok. In 2014, she entered an international student exchange program. She spent her second year of high school at Boulder¹² High School in Boulder, Colorado.

The young Thai says she found Americans to be mostly open-minded. She says the family she lived with in Boulder were very welcoming. So much so, in fact, that Tanyarattinan’s parents wanted her to be near that family when she decided to attend university in America.

So, Tanyarattinan entered DU in 2017 to seek a bachelor’s degree. And, like Wiredu, she was interested in international relations.

Tanyarattinan says she soon realized that a lot of American students at DU had little understanding of Thai culture.

"I have been asked so many questions about my country, about my religion…I feel like many people have heard of Thailand, but they don’t know a lot about Thailand. Like, we have cool temples. We have elephants. But what about other things?"

Tanyarattinan says instead of being insulted by such questions, she saw a chance to educate people. So, she and some other students formed a Buddhist¹³ student group. The group holds cultural events and welcomes others to take part in some Buddhist traditions.

Tanyarattinan says sharing cultures is an important part of being a citizen of the world, a role she has learned to value highly through her experience at DU.

Kwame Wiredu expresses similar satisfaction with his higher education experience in America. He says his relationships with professors and fellow students far outweigh¹⁴ any difficulties.

Wiredu plants to continue his education at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, in the fall. He still plans to use all he learned at University of Denver, and all he will learn at Dartmouth, to help people everywhere.

He says the good that will come from that will, with hope, outweigh the prejudices he faced in America.

I’m Pete Musto. And I’m Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

bachelor’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study

practicing – v. having a professional medical or legal business

impact – n. a powerful or major influence or effect

master’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree

racism – n. poor treatment of or violence against people because of their race

grasp – v. to understand something that is complicated or difficult

assess – v. to make a judgment¹⁵ about something

temple(s) – n. a building for worship

elephant(s) – n. a very large gray animal that has a long, flexible nose and two long tusks¹⁶

role – n. the part that someone has in a family, society, or other group

prejudice(s) – n. an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex or religion

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

4 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

12 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

13 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

14 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

16 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）