Ever wonder what’s at the end of the world? A group of Susquehanna students found out during the inaugural Global Opportunities (GO Short) experience to Patagonia over winter break.
PataGOnia exposes students to Argentinian culture, biodiversity and natural beauty across more than 3,从布宜诺斯艾利斯到乌斯怀亚的1000英里, commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world.
为高级 莱利穆里根, of Ridgewood, New Jersey, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I always really thought that Europe would be a place that could be attainable to me after graduation and it wouldn’t have taken me that far out of my comfort zone,穆里根说. “巴塔哥尼亚——我不会说西班牙语, 我知道这对我是个挑战, so that is what originally drew me to it.”
近10年前, Susquehanna was considered to be the first college in the nation to require every student to have a meaningful cross-文化 experience, 然后是学术反思. 从那时起, GO has made study away accessible to 100 percent of Susquehanna students through many semester-long options, and the faculty/staff-led GO Short programs, 哪些是最少两周的. The GO Short programs have increased from a few in 2009 to a robust 30, with about 20 operating in any given year. 更重要的是, all business students studying in the semester-long London Program now complete internships while there.
In a time of geo政治 and economic complexity, 文化 competency in the workplace is an essential skill. PataGOnia introduces students to the unique historical, 政治, 文化, biological and environmental realities that characterize Argentina today. 拉丁美洲，包括美国.S. involvement in Latin American history and politics, is a focus of the preparation discussion. The experience provides lenses through which students re-examine their values and roles as citizens of the U.S. 这个世界.
Students began their experience in Buenos Aires, where they participated in a scavenger hunt that forced them to interact with the local citizenry.
“与人互动很有趣. They were very welcoming and open,” says senior Bradyn瞎扯.
“It was a safe way for us to throw them into the frying pan,” program co-director 哈维·爱德华兹 增加了.
It was in and around Buenos Aires where students took tango lessons and learned about Argentina’s gaucho culture.
他们转向Bahía Bustamante, a village in the Patagonian region of the Chubut Province in southern Argentina. 虽然这个村庄很小, 它拥有惊人的动植物群, including a petrified forest and colonies of more than 50,000只企鹅.
“I got to see the mom feed the babies—they still had a little bit of the fluffy fur on the babies,穆里根说. “我从未见过这样的事情.”
They also took part in a service project collecting litter from a beach—80 pounds of it in total, 大部分是微塑料碎片.
The experience was eye-opening for Mulligan and Natter, who both admit to being heavy plastic users. “There is more plastic in the ocean than there are fish, 如果这样继续下去, it will be catastrophic to our ocean environment,穆里根说.
“It makes you rethink your own habits and realize what happens after you use plastics,” Natter 增加了.
But it was their time in Ushuaia that may have been the most memorable.
“The first time we arrived in Ushuaia, I was totally blown away,” says Natter. “It was such a beautiful and scenic place.”
Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego—Land of Fire—and commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world.
“It’s the end of the world,穆里根说. “You’re 600 miles away from Antarctica. You can see the Andes Mountains, and they are absolutely breathtaking.”
In Ushuaia, students boated and hiked throughout Los Glaciares National Park.
“I’d never seen a glacier, let alone climbed on one,” says Natter. “当你站在那里的时候，感觉很神奇. 大块的东西会掉下来. You’d hear a loud crack and a loud thud and see huge waves.”
Edwards hopes the experience took students out of their comfort zones and gave them a different perspective on the world in which they live.
“The best classroom in the world is the world, so I advocate leaving your comfort zone and going somewhere else,爱德华兹说. “Having a 文化 experience changes how you look at the world, yourself and others.”
Intentional programming ensures that students make the most of their GO Short programs. They study away with Susquehanna faculty/staff leading a small group of Susquehanna classmates, all of whom have participated in the program’s preparation course in the semester prior to departure. 在密集训练之后, 活动程序, there is a credit-bearing reflection course in which students optimize their cross-文化 learning. GO Short programs run during winter or summer breaks for two to six weeks and are an alternative to GO Long or GO Your Own Way experiences.
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How did your Global Opportunities experience affect your life? Perhaps it led you to a certain career choice. Maybe you discovered a greater understanding of yourself and others. Or did you learn to do something you didn’t know you ever could?
We would like to hear how your GO experience changed your life. 将你的故事提交至 sualum.com/GO for consideration in the next Currents.