Imaginative discussion activities such as "If I woke up tomorrow" make great reflective tools for empathy building and the development of capacity for perspective taking. I can see this particular activity being useful before a COIL/international virtual education experience (or in preparation for study abroad), during a program or course - for example when a critical incident occurs that students need help processing - or after an experience such as in a reentry course or debriefing. For COIL, you should probably tailor the activity so that students are perspective taking relevant to other cultural groups involved in the program. For study abroad, target various subgroups of the host culture.

I have had several very good experiences with this particular tool, but I also had a bad one that I would like to share, so others don't fall in the same hole. I asked students in our Purdue Polytechnic Institute what life would be like if they woke up tomorrow differently abled, of a different gender, etc. as recommended in the instructions for this tool. Then I asked them what life would be like if they woke up tomorrow as students majoring in a liberal arts field. The answers became very negative rather quickly, particularly stressing that they would have no hope for a good job, would need to work at a fast food restaurant, would be homeless, etc.if they studied liberal arts rather than a STEM field.

On the other hand, a good experience that I had with this exercise involved asking my team of student leaders who were preparing to welcome new international students to discuss what life would be like if they woke up tomorrow as domestic (if they were international leaders) or international (if they were domestic leaders). The conversation was full of empathetic insights.