By: Brie White, Staff Writer
The International Programs Office hosted an event on Tuesday, Feb. 2 that welcomed back participants from the fall semester study abroad. This dinner, in the Carlisle Wallace house, hosted by Dean Roberta Bigger, offered students the opportunity to exchange stories and reconnect.
Amy Lancaster, dean of international programs, asked two things of participants: What did you learn? What will you miss most?
Juniors Roderick Todd and Rebecca McGregor were happy to weigh in on their experience.
McGregor took part in a Spanish language intensive study abroad program in the Dominican Republic. Her experience, encapsulating so much cultural difference, was what she describes as “enriching,” but also “complicated,” causing her “forced acknowledgement of the privilege” that we have as Americans and college students in a liberal arts institution.
She depicted long days sometimes containing frustration over language barriers, service learning opportunities, very small class sizes, twelve hours a week of volunteering, studying the influence of incorporating art in therapy and a ninety page capstone. To say that McGregor’s time abroad was jammed packed would be an understatement.
McGregor detailed communication as one of the frustrating parts of her going abroad, saying that it’s hard to make an experience so individual to you relevant to everyone.
“I want my friends to ask about it . . .but I know, now that I’ve been back for a while, that some of those experiences are special just because they’re mine.”
Something McGregor misses in particular is the availability of fresh fruit.
“I’m kind of a mango snob now.”
She describes herself as “still working through re-entry,” and processing an occasional sense of guilt about the easy living she experiences at Wofford.
As for academic transitions, McGregor deemed her class in the Dominican Republic as “difficult but not harder,” than what she’s accustomed to here at Wofford.
Describing herself as goal oriented and well scheduled, she made accommodations to the way of life in a foreign country which was much more “relaxed,” where “people and relationships are prioritized.”
In terms of ultimate transition talk, McGregor sees with greater perspective the “freedom you have in another culture” and has undergone “the realization of the value of another culture.”
Though McGregor says she’s happy to be back at Wofford and back with her friends, the process of re-acclimating hasn’t been solely easy sailing.
“Honestly, I feel like Wofford hasn’t changed,” Todd says in contrast to McGregor’s experience.
Chinese and possible international relations major, Todd studied in Shanghai, China, in the fall of 2015. His program, IES Shanghai, was language intensive and involved his partaking in several courses with Chinese professors.
Coming out with his highest GPA of his college career, Todd described Wofford’s classes as “much harder” in comparison to those he took abroad. IES Shanghai also took its students on a two-week travel program, where they visited Cambodia and Singapore. Todd describes this as “such a unique opportunity” and a “growth experience”.
Todd’s transition back into Wofford living was a smooth one.
“Shanghai feels like a dream and this feels like home,” he says. “Wofford is a community where I can find 10 people willing to say a genuine hello when I walk around.”
“I loved my abroad experience but I missed my friends here . . . it’s good to be back,” he says.
In a city of millions, Todd dealt with major culture shock.
“Going to China was much harder than coming back home, everything is so different there.”
