Summer Experiences
Civil Rights in the South: The Southern United States
“Keep an open mind — you can’t go in there [to a new and different place] saying you’re not going to change.”
— Valerie Sabel
Valerie had completed her sophomore year as an education major when she boarded the bus for her course on civil rights. Given Val’s social studies concentration, the history aspect of the course appealed to her. With a little additional work, the course fulfilled her GSJ requirement.
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Valerie in Atlanta. |
Her class was small, but the students’ ages and ethnic and economic backgrounds varied greatly. The students cooperated and formed study groups to keep up with homework as they traveled from place to place. Val says classes were taught “in the field,” on the bus and at sites, as well as in the classroom at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC).
While traveling, students stayed in dorms on campuses throughout the South. Unfortunately, bed sheets were not furnished and “we had to do a Wal-Mart run in Tennessee.” There was a lack of food choices and, as Val says, “I ate fried chicken and corn bread for two weeks.”
Val appreciated that “the people were friendly” throughout her experience. Over the course of her two weeks in the South, Val says “we did a lot of touristy things, but I knew I wasn’t there as a sightseer but as a learner, which made it different…I was more aware of the different places [associated with the Civil Rights Movement].” She says her experience “made me more aware of America’s history.”
London Through the Lens: England
“Take advantage of it [study abroad] — who knows when you’ll get the chance again?”
— Sarah Frazin
When Sarah Frazin decided to study abroad, she was a first-year student. Her interest in photography, which is her major, propelled her toward the Syracuse University program in London.
Classes were held daily by her two British professors, but class was much more like an independent study than a structured course. Sarah valued having different points of view on her work while she was abroad. Throughout the month, Sarah lived with five other students in a flat in London. She found that once she “[gave] them a chance by opening up to them,” everyone got along well.
Sarah noticed that the British people she met genuinely wanted to talk to her. She says, “as long as I was respectful of them, they were more than happy to let me in.” In particular, Sarah noted how polite everyone was to her.
Thanks to Sarah’s study abroad experiences, she “grew as a person and got to be super independent.” At the end of her month in London, Sarah wished for a bigger suitcase because while she had packed light, she brought a lot more home than she had taken with her. Reflecting on her experiences, Sarah says, “I seriously felt like it was my city by the end.”