A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

She has just returned from grocery shopping across the border
in Kehl, Germany, where things are less expensive, and she is
looking for volunteers. Elise agrees to be a dishwasher. Maria
sails away to continue recruiting and organizing.
A few hours later, in the kitchen where students prepare
their breakfasts, lunches and some dinners, a small crowd gathers
around the stove top—they have discovered the four chickens
are still frozen. Professor Thomas swings through and solves
the problem, though is dismayed when told his assistance is
appreciated but no longer needed.
“I am taught to do things for my elders,” Sugam Rai, a
student from Nepal who has taken on the role of head chef,
explains later. “We wanted to do this dinner for him to enjoy,
not make more work for him.”
While some students chop and shred piles of vegetables,
Sugam and Wang Yu Jia from China hover over the stove.
Almost four hours later, the 15 students, their professor and
three guests sit down to a feast.
“I’m really glad I’ve learned all that I have here in France,”
says Greg Desgrosseilliers of Maryland, reflecting on his time
in Europe. “The experience is something that’s timeless. This
experience will not go away. We’re all going to take something
very important out of this experience, at least one thing. I don’t
know yet what it will be for me, but every day you learn something
new, every day you see something new, every day there’s
a new experience.”
It’s a memorable evening, created through collaboration
and goodwill just like the very program itself. The students’
time is full of these tiny moments that bind them together;
the full impact of their study abroad experience will emerge for
years to come, and in unexpected ways. They will always carry
with them the memory of exploring beautiful cities, but they
might also someday find themselves standing over a stove in
their own home, their spouse and children in the background,
and smile as they recall a group dinner long ago in France,
when they lived in a fairy-tale chateau and launched their college
dreams with a Global Beginning. ■
CSC FACULTY ABROAD
Professor Chrusciel, Florence
My Pathway class is about human desire in
literature, and it coincides so well with this program.
It’s so rewarding to study Dante, Petrarca
and Leopardi in Florence. The highlights were
three Italian guest speakers. After the class we
went to a trattoria with them, and I could see by the way my
students engaged in conversation with them how interested in
such cultural exchange they were. This is why I also organized
a trip to the Alps where students stayed with Italian families.
The intensity of the experience here makes it seem that we
all are taking an extra course here: “culture immersion.” I think
our neurons here are asked to fire faster and more often. Thank
goodness I have a resident director, Candace Ruta, who helps
students to deal with their everyday issues. It would be much
more challenging without her.
I’m very impressed with how the students are doing. This
group is very independent. They are doing well despite some
of them being homesick. I am impressed by how well they
have adjusted to the intense life here and are thriving. In class
they are dynamic and engaged.
My challenges here are to encourage students to make
good decisions, especially when it comes to finding a balance
between studies and traveling, and to establish appropriate
academic standards which will ensure they make a productive
transition to the learning environment of the Colby-Sawyer
campus. Students are learning here how to make choices,
because one is simply not able to take advantage of all the
cultural possibilities! They are relearning how to see and
think from a different angle, how to be open to a different
perspective.
Bill Thomas, Strasbourg
This group is tight, they’re very supportive of
each other. There are dual expectations of getting
them to be college students and getting
to see Europe, but we’re working through how
to do that. The majority of these students are
really talented and working well, balancing things and taking
every opportunity that comes along. There are others who are
struggling with the transition to college, but that’s normal.
The Château is a neat place where the students can focus
on work, but there’s no automatic contact with French people;
it has to be generated. We have to do more to bring them to a
functional level in the language. It takes a while in the culture
for that sense of functionality to mature. We need to find a
way to optimize their experience sooner. The semester goes
by so fast.
These kids are given every opportunity to take a new perspective
on things and there are an awful lot of variables as to
how they do that. There is no question that some are going
to go back changed in fundamental ways and be brimming at
the seams to share that with others.
WINTER 2010 43