LAFAYETTE TODAY
EXPLORING THE WORLD
Students take courses around the world
Illustration By Toby Maynard
"One foot in front of another, in a narrow winding staircase,
and 509 steps later, I was standing atop Cologne Cathedral with a magnificent view of the city. Looking down I
was amazed to see such detailed statues surrounding the cathedral.
In addition, I found it very impressive that this cathedral (among other historical monuments) was built with heavy stones and without the use of modern machinery such as cranes.”
So begins an account by Bonnie Hoy ’07 of her experiences studying medieval architecture in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. She remembered more than stones and statues: “Delicious food, including
an ‘all-you-can-eat’ rib dinner at
a local brewery, and incredible shopping were some of the many highlights. . . .”
Hoy, a chemical engineering major, was among 170 students who took seven faculty-led, three-week courses abroad during interim session. Destinations included Thailand and Myanmar; Turkey; Greece and Italy; Austria and Germany; Spain and Portugal; and Hawaii. Following final exams in May, another 50 students headed for Florence, Italy, and Russia and Poland for similar courses.
Lafayette Choirs traveled through Iberia on a concert tour enhanced by cultural, literary, and historical studies. Daniel Massa ’08, a biochemistry major, will not forget the first stop.
“It was eight o’clock in the morning when we arrived [in Lisbon]. . . . I followed a few members of the group into a nice-looking pastry/coffee shop just down the street from our bus. It was then that a realization hit me like a freight train—I had no clue how to communicate with the Portuguese people!” (He got his breakfast.)
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“The transition from one’s own country into another is a
conversion from one state of mind to another. Ordinary actions in life become exercises in discovering cultural differences.
In this way, travel allows you to expand your perspective on the world, sculpting a more complete person.” —Matthew Soper ’07
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It was the first time abroad for government and law major Malorie Ferrick ’07. “I am planning to study abroad next semester, which is something I never thought that I would do,” she writes. “I enjoy college life here, and when I am not here on the weekends because of Mock Trial tournaments, Residence Hall Council conferences, or Marquis Scholar trips, I feel I am missing out on things that Lafayette has to offer. But now I realize that the bigger thing I am missing . . . is immersing myself in another culture and fully appreciating what it means to be something other that the only thing I have known my entire life, American.”
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