June 24, 2010

Trips abroad help Bryant students develop a global perspective

Students volunteer in Peru, visit Italy as part of the Sophomore International Experience, and venture to China for a research trip with faculty members.

Chris Flores ’12 (Hartford, CT) was born and raised in Peru before coming to the United States in 1998. Earlier this spring, he returned for the first time in about eight years with a group of classmates to volunteer at a women’s shelter.

The group helped at the Casa de Mantay in Cusco, an organization that provides shelter and teaches skills to teenage mothers who are 12-to-18-years old. Quite often, the mothers are the victims of rape or sexual abuse.

“It was a big eye-opener for me,” he says. “As much as our lives can be difficult at times, it does not compare to the conditions faced by these mothers and their children.”

After returning from Peru, Katie Gorham ’10 thought about a book she read, Half the Sky, which asserts that service learning trips serve two purposes. They provide aid to local communities and change the outlooks and attitudes of the volunteers by exposing them to diverse people and obstacles they face.

Beyond donating $2,700, painting a 1,000-foot wall, cleaning, cooking, and assisting with the process of becoming a non-profit organization, the Bryant volunteers interacted with the children and learned about the hardships faced by the mothers. Gorham, who help spearhead a similar trip last year, realized the impact the experience was having on the group when the focus of their discussions changed from sports and movies to what could be done to help the women and children.

“I know that the experience changed every one of us for the better,” she says.

“I feel that we were able to take away much more from this trip than the help we provided them,” adds Chris Brida ’12 (Southampton, MA). “I can confidently say I came back a different person.”

A rewarding experience

Melanie Simas ’11 (Swansea, MA) acknowledges that the mothers at the shelter were hesitant to interact with the group at first. But after spending a day with them and their children, the Bryant team was welcomed with open arms.

“What seemed like a small effort on our parts made a world of difference,” she says.

Bridget McNulty ’11 (Madison, CT) says the most rewarding experience of the trip was relieving the mothers of some of their responsibilities so they could go to the park or play a game of soccer. “I truly hope that the mothers were able to feel like normal teenage girls again, if only for a short time,” she says.

Spanish Lecturer Patricia Gomez, who accompanied the students to Peru the last two years, says it was gratifying to see the improvements that have been made in the last year and to reconnect with the children and mothers she met a year ago

The opportunity to forge long-lasting relationships with the students is her favorite part of being an educator. “It is this part of the job that I am most thankful for and the reason I wouldn’t change my profession for anything,” she says.

To learn more about the experience, read the trip blog from Peru. 

Education that comes to life

As part of the preparation for her Sophomore International Experience Trip to Italy, Sarah-Elizabeth Rindo ’12 (Batavia, NY), researched the history of the Pantheon, a temple built in 126 AD that is dedicated to the Gods of ancient Rome.

Once Rindo and her classmates arrived in Rome, she was excited to see the structure and learn even more about it. “There is so much more beyond the facts that are in the books,” she says. “I had read about the oculus – the opening in the roof – but actually seeing how it lights up the interior was unbelievable.”

Emily Charpentier ’12 (Walpole, MA) says her favorite part of the trip was taking a glass elevator to the top of the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, a landmark she studied before leaving for Italy.

“Seeing it in person was so much better than I ever could have imagined,” she says. “By the time I got to go to the top, we had already been to many places in Rome and I could identify many of the buildings we could see.”

Rindo and Charpentier were two of the 52 students who spent two weeks living and studying in Italy at the end of May and beginning of June.

The students traveled in two groups. One led by President Ronald K. Machtley, Women’s Summit Director Kati Machtley, and Italian Lecturer Elisabetta Misuraca started in Florence. College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Lux, Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising Lori Johnson, and Executive Assistant to the President Roger Anderson led the second group that began its journey in Rome.

Buongiorno

After reading Basilica, Kelly Dumser ’12 (Yorktown Heights, NY) was most looking forward to seeing the grandeur of St. Peter’s Basilica. “I was so amazed and interested by every detail,” she says.  

Mike Derrick ’12 (Franklin, MA) says his favorite part of the trip was seeing the Trevi Fountain in Rome. He was so impressed, he went three different times during the trip. “I was completely in awe every time I looked at it,” he says. “It is amazing to think that the ancient Romans use aqueducts to bring fresh water to the city and were among the first in the world to use this technique.”

In addition to planned group activities such as visiting the Vatican Museums, seeing the Coliseum, and enjoying a typical Tuscan lunch, students also enjoyed an opera, toured a wine cellar, and tried their hands as chefs at a cooking school in Florence. They also had some free time to explore Rome and Florence on their own.  

Anthony DeJulio ’12 (Waltham, MA) and Charpentier ventured out for an afternoon they dubbed the “Angels and Demons tour.” They visited St. Peter’s Square, Piazza Navona to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers, Santa Maria della Vittoria, and Piazza del Popolo.  

“Oftentimes you see things in a movie that you think you’ll never get to see in person,” says DeJulio. “We ventured out on our own, and actually got to see the key sights.”

Research trip

Tom Pagliarini ’11 (North Providence, RI), Jason Fortin '12 (Pomfret, CT) , Science and Technology Professor Gaytha Langlois, and History Professor Judy Barrett Litoff are spending two weeks in China. The group is investigating historical sites and topics related to the course “U.S. and China: 1931-1950,” a class taught each fall by Barrett Litoff and completed by Fortin and Pagliarini.

Langlois is collecting earth samples and other scientific data at various sites for her research in international environmental policy and research. 

The group is visiting Beijing, Xi’an, Yan’an, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. The trip is co-sponsored by the U.S.-China Institute, Confucius Institute, Department of History and Social Sciences, and Department of Science and Technology in joint efforts to support Bryant faculty and student research and international exchanges.

Read their daily blog posts and check back to www.bryant.edu later this summer to read a complete recap of their trip.