Elite Scholars China holds a series of Global Scholars Programs (GSP) for graduating high school seniors. These mini-inquiries are meant to help students hone professional and personal skills before they attend college in the U.S. Covering topics ranging from managing roommate expectations to time management, these workshops veer from the traditional educational consulting path to teach students about the cultural aspects of American college life. GSPs introduce students to fundamentals of U.S. culture and history and equips them with skills they will use in college and beyond.

Counselors Kate Davis and Emily Davidson led a GSP that focused on How to Make Friends in your Freshman Dorm. Students were exposed to a sampling of American pop culture that their classmates are sure to be familiar with: Mean Girls and Cards Against Humanity. As technology makes the world smaller and more connected, young adults in the U.S. relate to each other more through online content and shared pop culture experiences (think: memes, movie references, the Grammys). During this GSP students watched the movie Mean Girls while playing Cards Against Humanity, a popular card game among college students. As they played, Kate and Emily explained jokes, references, or other content students had never heard of or didn’t understand, the objective being that learning about this aspect of American culture will make it easier to find common ground with other students, especially in casual settings such as a dorm lounge. Students will be able to use these social skills to connect with their new American classmates, particularly outside of the classroom.