Ayanna Rhodes, a WIS sophomore, led a workshop on Monday, March 11th where students from WIS and other schools held the annual Global Issues Net Conference (GIN) at the George Washington University (GW).  Rhodes led her workshop on the topic of internal conflict and shared how she related to it and how poetry and music had helped her through personal identification struggles she had overcome.

At the 2019 GIN conference, certain WIS students held workshops where they discussed global issues with the theme of conflict. Students from all over DC attended these workshops and discussed their opinions on the topic of the specific workshop they were in.

“I think poetry can be really powerful for dealing with internal conflicts and I have personal experience where poetry or music resonated with me to the point where I want to be able to share that experience with other people,” Rhodes said.

She then explained why she chose the topic and how it related to herself. She shared her connection to internal conflict by explaining her cultural identity insecurities and doubts. She independently overcame her conflict by connecting her emotions to writers who have experienced similar conflicts to hers.

Internal conflict is a self-doubt someone can have regarding an issue they are dealing with such as overcoming fears, bad habits or life choices. The topic of the conversation held on March 11th was about dealing with these dilemmas in a constructive and mind-benefitting way such as creative writing. This process helps you come to conclusions about yourself which are impacted by hearing about another person who is potentially dealing with the same or a similar situation or pouring your heart out in a self-composed poem or song.

She explained what her internal conflict was and how she came to terms with herself through creative expression. “Well, I kind of have a conflict right now with my cultural identity and it’s something that I continue to struggle with but writing about it creatively and listening to music again helps me come to a lot of different conclusions about myself,” said Ayanna Rhodes.

Rhodes shared poets who inspired her in her times of doubt or artists she was able to connect to that helped her get through her conflict. “There are a lot of songs that I resonate with, especially by the rapper Noname. There’s also a poet, Safia Elhillo, that I really resonate with.”

She believes there’s always someone who is going through the same thing you are, and finding them and empathizing with someone who knows how it feels can really help the feeling of loneliness.

She also gave insight on internal conflict and shared her personal experience with a positive outlook.  She explains that you can experience a fresh insight on your life and yourself as a whole once you work on the issue you are experiencing, and once you have dealt with it.

“I think that internal conflict can be positive because you learn more about yourself and you recognize what you don’t know about yourself and it’s another opportunity to learn.”