Let’s talk about us: Creating a sense of belonging at Parami
What does it mean to feel that you belong somewhere? For three Parami students, the answer began with Ibasho, a place where people feel they belong, a Japanese concept they encountered during the Dwight Clark Cross-Cultural Program in Japan.
After returning from the program, Su Lae Phyu, May Phuu Thwel and Eaint Phyu Thae turned this concept into Let’s Talk About Us, a student-led talk series designed to create a space for the Parami community to share their unique culture and stories.
During the program in Japan, the talk series organizers learned about Ibasho through Japanese hosts. For May, the concept felt especially relevant to Parami's diverse online community.
“Since Parami is an online university, we want to create a virtual space where we can exchange our culture. PU community has diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, and by sharing about their culture, we want them to feel that they belong in this community,” May explained.
The idea also grew from their experience of seeing how community spaces can be intentionally created. During the program, the students visited a community cafe designed for mothers and children to come and be involved in the community. They realized that creating a sense of belonging does not always happen naturally; intentional spaces and opportunities can be created to help people feel connected.
In their first talk series session, three speakers introduced three different perspectives: a Mon student shared about Mon food and volunteer experience within his community, an international student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo shared a traditional banana wine recipe, and a Kachin student talked about six traditional dresses representing different Kachin subgroups.
During the session, participants asked questions and showed interest in learning other people’s cultural food and appreciating the differences. The conversations between participants showed how cultural differences can become opportunities to connect. These moments showed that Ibasho could exist even in a virtual setting.
Eaint said, “Belonging is something we design; understanding our differences and accepting our true selves make us belong.”
In the future, the organizers plan to collaborate with student clubs and other student-led programs while inviting more members of the Parami community to share what makes their culture and background unique.
“Being an online community is both a strength and a weakness, since many of us come from very different and diverse backgrounds,” Su Lae reflected. “Amid our busy lives and schedules, learning about the others’ culture, lifestyle, and food and finding the similarities and differences between us can help us feel deeply connected. I think this connection is very important for students like us who are studying at an online university.”
Through the Let’s Talk About Us talk series, the organizers hope to make that connection a lasting part of the learning experience at Parami.
An interest form is sent out before each talk series, so stay tuned for the next one. For Parami community members who are interested in sharing their culture or learning more about this project, they can reach out to the three organizers via the following emails:
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