ABSTRACT
To navigate life during and beyond university, students need to interact efficiently with diversity by reaching epistemological, intrapersonal, and interpersonal dimensions of development, whose integration constitutes what developmental theorists term “self-authorship.” The purpose of this research study is to examine the impact of university students’ engagement in community-based extracurricular activities on the development of their self-authorship and intercultural maturity. The author conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 students in a private Egyptian university who are either active in local community service organizations or on-campus cultural clubs/organizations, or who have traveled to volunteer in community service projects abroad. The findings reveal the emergence of a global citizen with a self-authored inner voice encompassing four major themes that the author explores: embracing difference, self-awareness, local/glocal altruistic responsibility, and inner epistemological validation.
