LAUREN HANSEN
Seeing the world changes your worldview It was a hot, sweltering day in Mexico. My mom and I played leapfrog, avoiding cars across several busy streets and boarded a slightly air-conditioned van bus. Feeling adventurous, we left our touristfilled Iberostar hotel to immerse ourselves in the local scene. As minutes passed, we anxiously translated street signs and calculated pesos. We officially had left our comfortable, sheltered nest. We wandered down small streets, our eyes glued to the straw roofs and clotheslined laundry. In that town, we enjoyed massages — OK, we were still tourists — at this little shop, and afterward we spoke our best Spanish to the owner. What we hadn’t realized is that our massage therapists were both blind. The owner let us know that she only hires employees who have disabilities. “I am looking to hire someone who cannot walk as my receptionist,” she told us. This woman’s heart was beautiful, her mind creatively thoughtful. Deeply humbled and thankful, we left that shop different from when we had arrived. This month, many of our students have embarked on J-Term study tours around the world. Although their experiences aren’t full of luxury resorts, they’re meeting incredibly beautiful people. They’re also facing challenges: figuring out how to communicate effectively, learning to understand and respect other cultures, witnessing poverty and injustice firsthand, and living a little less comfortably than normal.
Between 15 and 25 faculty-led study tours are offered every year, most in January and June. Recently, alumni and friends have begun to financially support students who could not otherwise afford to participate, making these lifechanging experiences possible. One of my favorite times of the year is when students return from overseas and share their stories. On Facebook, I also asked alumni to describe their J-Term experiences, and their responses show how deeply they feel the impact years later. “On the Argentina J-Term trip, I learned many things about the culture but also about myself,” Sara Niedzwiecki ’10 wrote. “Putting yourself into a situation that isn’t exactly comfortable (i.e. language barriers, complete independence and reliance on self) helps you to see yourself in a different way; a more confident, independent person ready for the real-world! Also, the lack of reliance on technology in a foreign country really honed in on developing communication skills across cultures and with classmates.” Sarah Vanags ’14 described listening to a Holocaust survivor in Krakow, Poland, who had been a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp. “His strength and faith throughout were something that stuck to me,” she said. “My grandmother was a refugee at the same time in Latvia and Germany, and I couldn’t fathom how incredibly difficult it was to be a young person and have to make the decisions and sacrifices they made.”
Kirsten Petersen ’10 shared that a J-Term study tour to Nicaragua “changed my life and made me want to go into the nonprofit field and give back. I learned a lot about myself on that trip, but also about the culture and how generous the people were there. They were so poor but would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. It opened my eyes to see how truly blessed we are living in the United States and how much we take for granted.” Other alumni recalled discovering a 2,000-yearold inscription during an excavation in Omrit, listening to people in Rome share their love in many languages, exploring the streets of Paris without knowing French, and simply leaving the United States for the first time. Our students are beginning to trickle back in from their travels. It is my hope that they come back enamored with the beauty of another culture and matured by challenges in communication. Maybe they’ll even stumble into a shop and meet someone who makes them think differently. Thank you to all who make it possible for them to travel the world. Joyfully yours,
Lauren Hansen ’10 Director of Alumni and Parent Programs lhansen@carthage.edu 262-551-5816
Learn more about staying connected, upcoming events, and ways to give back at carthage.edu/alumni.
carthage.edu
W17_CARTH_38-47.indd 39
43
1/11/17 2:43 PM