Returning from their intercultural experiences, EMU students face one final challenge: summing up their time abroad in a digestible, convocation-sized package for the home community. On Sept. 14, a group of students and group leaders took to the stage (or screen, via photo slideshows) to share about their trips.
Senior Aliyyah Haggard, who helped represent the Ghana intercultural trip, appreciated the convocation: “it allowed me to gain deeper insight into the unique experiences my peers had, as well as reflect on my own personal experience. The Ghana trip allowed me to have an experience that felt personal while also giving me opportunities to challenge myself, learn and grow….Through this trip I was able to strengthen my connection with those who accompanied me from EMU as well as create a strong bond of support between our group and having that kind of support network here at school makes me feel like I have people that I can talk to about anything, and I am very grateful for that.”
Junior Ashley Mellinger helped represent the second Spain intercultural trip and also shared about new connections made. “I spent four weeks in Madrid and Valencia with a group of EMU students. There are so many highlights, it’s hard to pick just one to reflect on.” In reflections shared with the reporter, Mellinger described a 30,000-step day brimming with adventure and warm friendships found in fellow attendees Julie Weaver and Jessamine Domingo. Mellinger concluded, “I think the best part of the whole day was finding what makes a great friend: someone you can walk with and talk, or in silence, but it’s never uncomfortable or forced. You can just be, and it’s enough.”
Social work professor and Spain intercultural group leader Deanna Durham noted, “I always look forward to student chapels and enjoy student perspectives, humor and hearing what they enjoyed and found challenging. For me personally, I was just so proud of our Spain groups for all their walking, sweating, willingness to try so many new foods, etc. that it was especially meaningful to see ‘my’ students up front telling their own stories about their intercultural experience. I definitely appreciate knowing, as a faculty member, where students have been over the summer and what they are continuing to think about, question, want to know more about and it helps me connect with students I may not have had in a course.”
Professor Maria Esther Showalter agreed. “Students take a lot of time to reflect and hearing from them is an act of respect and love and we listen to their stories…It is very important to hear about the summer trips so we have a chance to continue talking about some of the issues that the other countries are facing as a venue to talk about what is happening here.” Showalter continued, “Most of the time the reflections are written in a very descriptive way therefore the audience can almost feel as if they were part of that experience. What a gift!”
Senior Caleb Esch noted, “Each group that shared during convocation seemed to have numerous stories about all the fun times they had while they were spending time with host families, exploring different cities, and experiencing what life is like in a place that isn’t familiar to them. Hearing their stories made me all the more excited for what I will get to take part in on my intercultural trip.”
Esch also shared that presenting on the summer trips “can be a critical way to spread the word of the opportunities available to those who are hesitant about a full semester trip, don’t have the schedule freedoms, or are looking for something a little closer to home. It can also help people understand that summer intercultural trips really have something for everyone.”
Any trip that a student chooses to participate in will be an important experience. Social work professor and local-context group leader Debbi DiGennaro shared, “These trips are an important way that EMU develops our students as global citizens. With today’s heavy influence of digital algorithms, it’s possible to live in a very real silo (intellectually, experientially), interacting only with people who already see the world as we do….On cross culturals, students have the delightful and disconcerting opportunity to step outside these silos of familiarity. This is a critical thing for tomorrow’s leaders to experience.” For more information about EMU intercultural experiences, see https://emu.edu/intercultural/.
