Spring 2006
The Olivetian
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know “ I don’t what will
For some students, off-campus study pushes to show me how challenging this field is and to them to a whole new level of academic excellence. rekindle my passion for covering politics.” Janie Case ’06, who participated in the Oxford HonJessica Allison ’06, who also studied in D.C. ors Program in England, recalls, “I’ve never studied through the American Studies Program, had a that hard in my life — I didn’t know I had it in me.” similar experience. “Studying in D.C. offers stuHowever, the academic rigor is easily surmountdents an opportunity to learn more in one day able for most of these students, since they opt to then they ever could in a week on a traditional participate in programs that are of interest to them. college campus. I saw firsthand how it would be Jen Justice ’07, an elementary education major, possible to be called to full-time Christian ministry found this to be the case for her when studying art in — KARI SHAY ’07 in the government, politics and policy arenas.” Australia. “I found myself working harder than I ever And for both Miller and Allison, the experienchad before, because I was doing things I was passionate about.” es led to even more practical results. For Miller, “I’ve benefited from The level of intensity for off-campus study varies from program to the networking. As my Summer Institute peers have all graduated program, and some students choose to take themselves far beyond the and started out in the media, I’ve continued to learn from their expebeaten path. Take Kari Shay ’07, for example, an art major from Hinsriences as well as my own.” Allison’s experience not only led her into dale, Ill., who spent the fall semester in Fiji through the highly-physical a new career through Teach for America, but she also met her fiancé Eduventure program. She recalls being dropped off with her group on the while studying in D.C. beach, armed with a spear and machete, and being told, “If you want to Asked whether they would recommend off-campus study to other eat, spear a fish. If you want to have a shelter, build one.” Among her students, current and former participants all seem to agree: It’s not a other adventures: sleeping in tribal villages, jumping off 60-foot waterquestion of whether you go, but where you should go. falls, and encountering venomous jungle snakes. “Go, go, go,” Quanstrom emphasizes to anyone who asks. “Go Shay pokes fun at her own lack of preparedness for the program. She and be changed as you change others.” remembers, “I showed up at the airport in my little glasses and I’m like, ‘Is there a Starbucks?’” But because of her openness to adventure, Shay’s life IN THEIR was dramatically altered. She AUDIO OWN explains, “I was stretched so far. Podcasts WORDS: I’ve grown up in Chicago, been a city girl by nature my entire life. Now I want to live in the bush Go to www.olivet.edu and live a simple life: serve God and love Him and not be caught and click on the link for up in materialism. “Podcasts: Listen Now” “I don’t know what will hapto listen to several pen,” she continues, “but it’s just really cool how God works.” students’ accounts about Tricia Miller ’06 didn’t have studying in Australia, to travel nearly as far to have a life-changing experience. The Russia, China, Uganda, summer after her freshman Egypt, Washington, D.C., year, she participated in the Summer Institute for Journalism England, Fiji and many in Washington, D.C., and since other exciting places. that time has participated in two more D.C. programs. “God has worked through that experience
happen … but it’s just really cool how God works.
PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY JESSICA ALLISON ’06, KRISTIN BARLOW ’07, AND BRIANA KASSEBAUM ’07
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Briana Kassebaum ’07 in Costa Rica
Latin American Studies Program: Based in Costa Rica, LASP offers tracks in advanced Spanish language and literature, culture and politics, environmental science or international business. Students live with families, but travel to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and perhaps Cuba. Los Angeles Film Studies Program: LAFSP is located minutes from the major Hollywood studios, involves six hours of internship in the film industry and 10 hours of related classes stressing the integration of Christian faith with the visual arts.
Middle East Studies Program: Housed at the American University in Cairo on an island in the Nile River, MESP guides students in exploring the religious, intellectual and political currents in the Middle East. Students travel to Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and when possible, Israel.
all classes and extracurricular activities. Forty-five minutes from London, public transport reaches to the rest of England. Romanian Studies Program: Live with a Romanian family, work in hospitals, orphanages, child welfare or senior adult welfare programs, a Christian Coffeehouse Ministry, public schools, an Internet Café. Internships are available for pre-med, nursing and business students during the summer.
Oxford Scholars Semester: Juniors and seniors from any major with a 3.5 GPA can enroll at the Centre for Scholarship and Christianity at Oxford (SCIO) and be a visiting student through Wycliffe Hall, eligible for
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government to offer accredited degrees. Students live in self-governing dorms and take Japanese language and culture, directed studies with bi-lingual Japanese professors and English-language courses offered for Japanese students.
Summer Institute of Journalism: In Washington, D.C., taught by Coalition for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) faculty members
Uganda Studies Program: In cooperation with Uganda Christian University, the USP gives American students the chance to experience Africa up close, living in a dorm and going to class with African students.
Tokyo Christian University: TCU is the only Christian institution in Japan chartered by the
Russian Studies Program: Based in Nizhni Novgorod (the
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central research center for the Soviet Union), with time in Moscow and St. Petersburg, students live in a college dorm, then with a Russian family. Russian history and culture, Orthodox Christianity and modern Russia are explored.
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