Shaina Lidd ‘15, an international relations and religion double major, participated in the May Term to India this past summer. After graduation, she plans on attending graduate school. Read about her experience:
On my May Term in India, we traveled through three cities: New Delhi and Agrua in North India, and Kerla in South India. Throughout our trip, we studied India today, in the shadow of Gandhi’s impact on the country. We ate, we sight saw, and we experienced how true Indians lived, including visiting a slum of New Delhi. Though I learned many things, one of the most important things that I learned was that modernity and happiness are not the same thing everywhere. The Western idea of modernity and happiness is not the only way, and India has a beautiful and important modernity that is often ignored or seen as old-fashioned. There can never be – and should never be – a singular idea of modernity. Something in particular that stood out to me while I was there was how women are treated in other countries. Even as a White woman, there were times that I was treated as second-class to my male counterparts. While modernity is not the same everywhere, that does not mean that women cannot be equal. India showed me what my true passion in life is, and changed what I want to devote my life’s work to.
Emily Crane ’17, an international relations major with a French minor, spent the summer in France teaching English. After graduation, she hopes to join the Peace Corps or work with an NGO. Here is what she said about her experience:
This summer I taught English for two months in Saint-Lo, France. I worked at two schools with students ranging from three years old to high school aged. This taught me a lot about developing lesson plans appropriate for each age and skill level, as well as about classroom management and how to engage students. In every class without fail I could count on being asked if my favorite food was a hamburger and what was it like to live around movie stars every day. In addition to my work in the classroom, I got the chance to attend the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of D-Day and sites such as La Pointe du Hoc, the Coleville Cemetery, and Omaha Beach, among others. I was very fortunate to be able to personally thank several American veterans who attended the ceremonies. While I very much enjoyed these experiences, my favorite part of the two months there was the opportunity to live with a host family, which greatly enhanced my skills in French. The family and I were a perfect match and we became so close that plans are in place to have the youngest daughter stay with me in the U.S. this summer. Time in France this summer was a fantastic experience, and I will remember so much about the wonderful people I met and the memories I made.
