STUDENTS
International Studies students experience sights, sounds and tastes abroad
prayed and did yoga, inspired by the breath-taking view of Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain, which helped take some of the loneliness of being away from family on Mother’s Day. “This is one journey that I will never forget,” Chambers said. “I was enlightened to say the least. I learned about South Africa’s food, political parties, their 12 languages, resources and economic standpoint, diverse cultures and ethnicities, and so much more.” Students also recently returned from study abroad trips to Denmark, Greece, Italy and Peru. International Studies Program Coordinator Jessica Miller said she has never seen a student come back from one of the IS trips abroad who didn’t have an eye-opening experience. One student cried at the sight of the Sistine Chapel. Nursing students who went to Denmark were skeptical that free universal health care could work —until they experienced it firsthand. “Different trips have different eyeopening experiences,” Miller said. “But they always have a lot to take away.”
turned out to be a very emotional and humbling one.
Miller said students in the IS program enroll in specific courses and study as a cohort during the semester, learning about the history and culture of their destination. Once abroad, students visit various cultural sites, tour historic cities, meet with locals, and experience different food. “They get really immersed in it,” she said. “They learn everything about it on the front end at home before they venture to their chosen county. Then they get to spend about a week to 10 days there where they get to experience the culture and what it is like to live there.”
Chambers was literally brought to tears when she saw the jail cell at Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years there in prison. She also
Dr. Sharon Hightower, assistant professor of nursing who went to Demark with a group of ten students, says she was extremely grateful for the
Sheena Chambers prayed while she took in the inspiring view from the top of Table Mountain during a recent International Studies trip to South Africa.
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heena Chambers was hesitant when she got the e-mail to apply to the International Studies trip to South Africa because of her age, and the fact that she was new to Southwest. But her heart told her to apply, so she followed her intuition. And it paid off. The trip to Cape Town
12 | SOUTHWEST NOW | SPRING 2020
