For Ohio State students, summer means a lot more than hanging out at the pool, working on that killer tan.
Far from it. (As in, say, Ecuador.) It's about seeing the world, combining classwork with on-site experience, and, ultimately, enriching study upon return to campus. Whether it was
walking among ancient ruins in Mexico, visiting a remote village in Ghana, or even running with the bulls in Spain, Ohio State
students traversed the globe this summer—it's more
evidence of the types of opportunities available to our (extremely well-traveled) students.
(mouse over image area for captions; all images and text by Ohio State students)
Student: Brynn Myers
Major: Political Science/Spanish
Summer spent in: Guanajuato, Mexico
Guanajuato is a little city about five hours from Mexico City, in the mountains. I lived there with a host family, and attended the University of Guanajuato. I took a full course load, taking political science, film, and literature classes in Spanish. Majoring in both Political Science and Spanish, having the opportunity to get a foreign perspective on North American politics was really interesting. At the university, some of us also taught English to Mexican kids. Outside of school classes, I took salsa classes at one of the local salsa clubs, which was definitely the best part of the trip! Overall, it was an eye-opening experience -- not really anything at all what I had expected. I never had realized on how many levels cultures can be different -- nor how much of a midwest girl I am.
Student: Bethany Frew
Major: Bio-Environmental Engineering
Spent summer in: Czech Republic
My summer 2005 study abroad trip to the Czech Republic through the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences was a life-changing experience. Not only did I gain an inside understanding and knowledge of Czech Agriculture and culture, but I also acquired a new perspective and deeper appreciation for America. Two highlights were the three-day family stay and a six-day study tour, which gave me an authentic flavor of the Czech way of life and an all-encompassing view of the Czech Republic. I could not have had a more enriching experience for my Ohio State education than though this study abroad trip.
Student: Karen Grooms
Major: African American and African Studies
Summer spent in: Ghana
Going to Ghana was the greatest thing I have done so far in my entire life. My experiences cannot be numbered nor quantified and my heart is overwhelmed with love and joy at it. My experiences in Ghana, in general, affected me more emotionally than I expected; perhaps, because they disabused my mind on some of the issues I thought going to Africa would help me escape. Many times, I felt a sense of my helplessness as the environment that surrounded me was puzzling as I became a student of a culture I thought I have a mastery. Many a times, I struggled with the energy of the people I saw and realized how untrue my initial perception was. Much of what I earmarked to suggest or advice, when I interact with the people was not practical, nor was even correct at all, in the context of the culture I was trying to understand. In essence, my journey to Ghana was a journey into a rediscovery of my identity.
Student: Rachel Kopec
Major: Pharmacy/Finance
Summer spent in: Nantes, France
Spending a summer in France was an amazing experience on many levels. I learned how to survive in a different country with a different culture and foreign language. The classes I took educated me on European countries and the European Union. In addition, I became much more aware of my own strengths and weaknesses as an individual, as well as those of my own country. I am still astonished at the diversity of people and places within one country! From the D-day beaches of Normandy to the Cro-Magnon caves of the southwest to the intense aqua waters of the French Rivera, my weekend travels truly enriched my cross-cultural experience. This experience is just one more opportunity I have been able to take advantage of as an Ohio State student. For me, one off-handed suggestion by my advisor turned into an entire summer abroad. How great is that?
Student: Elizabeth Miller
Major: Geological Sciences
Summer spent in: Ephraim, Utah
Each geological sciences major at Ohio State is required to spend six weeks of one summer in Ephraim, Utah. To give you a taste of Ephraim, it is a small town with approximately 5,000 people, one stoplight, and the only fast food restaurant is McDonald’s. Its location at the base of the Wasatch Plateau, though, is absolutely beautiful. The main focus of our six week stay was sedimentology, which involves looking at rocks deposited predominantly by wind and water; it also means looking at lots and lots of sandstone. Sometimes we got to do cool things, like looking at faults and basalt from old underwater volcanic eruptions. I was amazed at how much I learned from my six week visit to Utah. First and foremost, I learned a vast amount about the geology of Utah, and I learned how to recognize features in the field such as faults and sub-surface folds. But I also learned what it was like to live in a small town, and I realized that I love the mountains, and that the first requirement of the graduate school I attend next year is that it must be located near mountains. My summer in Ephraim, Utah, was a wonderful time and a great learning experience.
Student: Charlene Chi
Major: Economics/Political Science
Summer spent in: Washington, D.C. and Latvia
From June to August, I interned at the American Council of Young Political Leaders in Washington, D.C. It's a non-profit NGO that facilitates international political exchanges to increase global awareness and cooperation. In August, I participated in seminar in Latvia with students from Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Finland, Belgium, Poland, Britain, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, and USA. The seminar was on building democracy within the post-Soviet states through the coordinated efforts of international organizations, national governments, and non-governmental organizations. The most rewarding part of the conference was interacting with the European students to learn about their governments and economies. It was an eye-opening and humbling experience when I found that everyone knew about the US while we know so little about their nations, for example the country of Moldova.
Student: Robert Beaulieu
Major: Comparative Studies and Pre-Med
Summer spent in: Madrid, Spain
This summer I spent a month in Madrid helping out in an art gallery called Las Coronas, which specializes in producing tiaras, jewelry, and silver and bronze sculptures. In addition to putting artistic abilities to the test, I enjoyed Madrid's night life, toured the city's museums, palaces, and historical sites, ate seafood, paella, and tortilla, as well as traveled around northern Spain. I hiked through the mountains, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, and enjoyed the beaches of San Sabastian and La Coruna. Through this experience, I lived and experienced the Spanish culture first-hand and learned a lot about living in a completely different environment than what I was accustomed to. I now have enormous respect for students who come to study in the States as well look forward to my next chance to travel abroad.
Student: Laura Tompkins
Major: Political Science
Summer spent in: Lisbon, Portugal
My experience, though brief, has set the trajectory for my development in a profound way. I was one of four American participants in the 10th annual Portuguese Atlantic Youth Summit--sponsored by one of many civic groups started in NATO member countries to strengthen the transatlantic alliance. The topic was "Global Civil Society and International Security" and the program included a barrage of lectures by Portuguese scholars, briefings from national and NATO officials, tours of historic sites, and more. Most other youth attending spoke three languages fluently and knew just as much about American history and geography as we did. The Americans felt a collective sting of embarrassment that we hadn't dedicated as much time as other youth to being more globally conscious.
Student: Katie Kimmel
Major: Theatre Design and Production,
Spanish, Art History
Summer spent in: London, England
Between classes in the morning, my second internship in the afternoon (photographing various designers as they prepare for Notting Hill Carnival), seeing plays at night, and squeezing in homework, I looked forward to Sundays off for relaxing with friends and enjoying all that the city has to offer: great history and culture, free museums, bustling shopping streets and markets, and of course, quaint cafes and pubs. Some of my favorite memories thus far include being a groundling at The Globe theatre for their production of The Tempest, exploring the costume collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, wandering through the beautiful Kew Gardens, an excursion to Stratford-upon-Avon, and meeting Sir Ian McKellen in the audience at Hedda Gabler. But more than any singular event, the wonderful people that I’ve met here, be they mere acquaintances or new best friends, will always remain fondly in my heart.
Student: Steven Knoepfler
Major: Political Science, Philosophy
Summer spent in: Oxford, England
Most memorable for me was being able to sit at the Bench Table with other members of our judicial decision-making program. This table, which stretched twenty-nine feet, was carved from a single Oak tree that was donated by Queen Elizabeth I from her Windsor property, floated down the Thames, lifted through a window, and carved into its shape on the very spot it now rests. I certainly learned a lot on this program not only through reading, studying, and researching, but also by experiencing. I’m grateful to the Collegium for helping me to get there so I could learn more about the law, England, the world, my peers, and myself.
Student: Dhriti Pandhi
Major: Finance, Spanish, Economics
Summer spent in: Oxford, England
I went with a group of other Ohio State students examining the Anglo-American legal system. After re-teaching myself how to cross the street by first looking right, I was able to get around Oxford. My favorite (or should I say favourite) experience was punting at the Cherwell Boathouse. Punting involves being able to maneuver a wooden boat which seats about 6 people by solely using a long, heavy, steel pole to push off the base of the water in order to move the boat forward. The hardest part of this sport is being able to use the pole to move the boat in a straight line. Much like Ohio State and Michigan try to battle it out on the football field, it is tradition for Oxford and Cambridge to battle it out on the waters through punting competitions. Although I crashed our boat into the sides of the embankment numerous times, I was able to try something new and totally immerse myself in a true Oxfordian environment.
Student: Juliana Vines
Major: English, Political Science,
International Studies
Summer spent in: Oxford, England
I took pictures with the bobbies at Buckingham Palace and sat on the Champs-Elysees watching Lance Armstrong come in for his final Tour de France win. We were taken to the Queen’s chair and touched the ring imprint that Churchill left on one of the tables he banged his fist on. We saw the Prime Minister’s seat and the Houses of Lords and Commons. In the room of where the House of Commons meets, members of each party stand on parallel red lines facing each other when they speak. The lines are just over two sword lengths apart. The reason? So that fights don’t break out, of course. I may not know much yet, but I know this: when your government headquarters is architecturally designed to accommodate (or deter, as it were) sword use, you have a solid political history under your belt. I realized how young of a country America still is. Deciphering the thick Welsh accent of our tour guide as he said, “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” in reference to the wives of Henry VIII humorously showed me how much the rest of the world’s politics has been through. I really came to appreciate the ripeness of England’s age as well as the youth of our own American system while abroad.
Student: Taylor Nelms
Major: Anthropology
Summer spent in: Quito, Ecuador
I spent my summer in Quito, Ecuador, a city with a thousand names, barely enough to match its multitude of people, lifestyles and histories. It is the Light of America, Patrimony of Humanity (the first city in the world to be named such - before Paris, London or Rome), the City of the Virgin, the city of four seasons in one day, the city of clouds, of eternal sky, the city in the Middle of the World, the city of the Volcano. It stretches out like a creature between two mountains ranges, a snake, but with long crooked fingers reaching into *las faldas* of the two Pichinchas: *Rucu,* the old man; and *Guagua,* the baby, and the volcano. This is my second summer there--last year, I learned the language (still a daily struggle), and this summer I completed data collection for my senior thesis in anthropology. I have focused my field work on a case study of one family in Quito, investigating specifically the way "family" serves as a nexus for the negotiation of identity.
Student: Nicholas Maddron
Major: Family Resource Management
Summer spent in: Germany
I knew I was going to be taking History of Art 211 this summer and also visiting my cousin who's in the Army stationed in Landstuhl, Germany with the 181st Signal Company, 42nd Signal Battalion. I made a point of visiting some of the more famous castles and towns, integrating the art history aspect into my trip. With the United States being so "young" in comparison to Europe I feel it's important for countries to embrace their history and appreciate the past as it shapes how countries grow and progress. Some of the places I visited were Heidlelberg Castle and also the city of Trier, which was actually founded by the Romans and is also home to Karl Marx. The gate behind Brutus Buckeye is called Porta Nigra, "The Black Gate", and was the entrance into the city.
