Study Abroad

Sawatdee Ka, or, as we say in English, hello!

One of my favorite aspects of Longwood and the honors college is the great push for the students to go abroad. A great part of what led to me to choosing Longwood is the requirement for the honors students to attend a study abroad for a minimum of two weeks. While this may not be an idea shared by other colleges, I thought it was great that our school cares to put the students out into the world, so that we can see more aspects of the world., through learning different cultures, and learning through a different perspective.

In choosing where I wanted to go, I first  thought about what would benefit my major, however, not many programs can be taken outside of the country that deals with special education, and many programs had classes that I had already taken. I also had great hopes of one day seeing the Mediterranean sea, and visiting the great city of Rome, and I have always  wanted to revisit the countries of Europe that I had gotten to see before I came to college.

In the end, I chose Thailand, and Dr. Marks’ program on Southeast Asia’s economy!  No, this class wasn’t my field of study, but I always viewed studying abroad as an  opportunity to learn more about a culture or to go somewhere that is not often visited, or is a place not often traveled. As both closest friend and roommate were going on this trip, we had set a few goals for ourselves. Of course, we both held great interest in the class course. Not only was the government different, as was the economy, but the religion is too! We wanted to journal the differences that we noticed, and take part in as many things as we could that would give us greater understanding of the Thai Culture.

It was only a short few weeks, but I learned more and saw more things than I thought I ever would in such a short period of time. As we learned of the effects of local governments have on the economy of the entire SE Asia, we focused on Thailand. Everything was different; the people, the climate, and more. In the beginning, I was very out of my comfort zone, with the food, communication issues, and the experiences in general, but it was absolutely amazing. I ate weird and ridiculous food, like bugs, I jumped off of waterfalls, and swam down a river, and trekked through a pathless jungle. In the end, I came even more out of my shell, and met people from Longwood that I would never have met otherwise, and I even got to experience it with my closest friend and roommate.

As a future teacher and student, this made me appreciate how different beliefs can influence how one lives. I appreciated the things I had more, and also appreciated the work that goes into the market systems as we saw fish nurseries and fruit and flower markets work firsthand, as well as how the floating markets work. I wouldn’t know how the markets are first-come-first-serve, or how some orphanages handmade clothing and spin yarn themselves that can be sold to visitors as a way to make money. In the future, I hope to be able to educate my students about all of the different places in the world through both my pictures and experiences but to also draw attention and celebrate each of my students’ cultures.

To see my experience, visit this video!