Rhodes women were quite adventurous this summer with their traveling endeavors. Ladies from Rhodes traveled all around the world from Argentina to England to gain not only a phenomenal learning experience, but to build amazing friendships with Rhodes students and students from other institutions. This past summer I was fortunate enough to go on the Antwerp Maymester to study International Business Cases and Religion in the Low Countries. Our group was based in Antwerp, Belgium and managed to venture to Amsterdam, Paris, Reims, and Aachen, Germany. I had a fantastic time, absorbing the historical scenery and learning about the foreign environment I was in. Personally, I found the maymester to be a major source of confidence. I learned to navigate the metro of Paris, picked up some German and Flemish, and met amazing people (from Rhodes and abroad). After my incredible experience, I was curious to find out where else my fellow Rhodes students had traveled this summer. I talked to a few girls whose enthusiasm for travel lead them to invaluable memories in the summer of 2012.
Anne Rawlinson ’13 went on a program with Duke University to Berlin Germany. Anne, who is a German minor, found the trip to be an excellent opportunity to strengthen her skills in German speech. Anne said, “it was a great chance to improve my German language skills. Speaking with the locals in Berlin definitely helped to improve my German”. Anne also learned much about how wars can have a heavy impact on the aesthetics of historical cites. She said that “What I found most interesting is how a city with so much rich history (before the bad years in the 20th century) and beautiful architecture can be destroyed so easily by war. Essentially all of the older buildings have been rebuilt in the last few decades”. Anne found the trip to enhance her sense of independence and managed to also visit Vienna and Prague.
Grace Mosely ’14 and Rachel Headley ’14 also went to Europe like Anne, but on British Studies at Oxford with Rhodes. On BSAO, a student gets to spend about six weeks in Oxford England with weekend excursions and can earn up to twelve Rhodes credit hours. Students on the trip are not only from Rhodes, but other universities as well, such as Sewanee.
Students live in the dorms of St. Johns College and get to experience what it truly feels like to live on campus as an Oxford student. The girls enjoyed getting to know Oxford and were able to take a weekend trip to Paris together. Rachel thought the trip was a “great learning experience” and enjoyed getting to study so “in depth in England”. The trip summed up to be a wonderful experience academically and culturally for Rachel and Grace.
Elizabeth Zuelke, ’13 instead of studying abroad, traveled to Argentina this summer for a fabulous internship she found through Rhodes. Elizabeth had also been a participant in the Antwerp maymester in the summer of 2011 and her experience there, made her “know [she] wanted to do something similar this summer”. She is an Economics/Business major and found South America to be a prime location for furthering her studies and expanding her cultural horizons. Elizabeth says she,, “chose Argentina for several reasons. First of all, I had never been to South America but really wanted to go. I had taken several Spanish classes to fulfill my language requirement at Rhodes and really wanted to be more fluent in the language. Also, the trade climate here in Argentina offers a unique opportunity for an in-depth study of trade restrictions and their repercussions on an economy”. She made friends with Argentinean residents and gained some serious work skills from her internship.
Wherever you might want to go, Rhodes is very good at providing opportunities and options for students interested in going abroad. The summer is a perfect time to take on an adventure abroad, as exemplified by these ladies above. If you are interested in going abroad work with the Study Abroad office at Rhodes and Career Services like these girls did to ensure that you find the best trip for you.