University Honors College

Ally Malone is studying Chemistry and is in the Honors College at Oregon State University. Currently an ambassador for the OSU Office of Global Opportunities, Ally is a travel enthusiast. In fall of 2014 she went on exchange to Lancaster University in Lancaster, United Kingdom. Read on to hear about hiking, exploring and learning abroad!

The Lake District in Northern England is known for its tremendous views, rigorous hiking and stormy weather. Luckily for me, Lancaster University is situated right on the outskirts of this National Park. Although I wouldn’t call myself an experienced hiker, I was determined that the best way to see the English countryside would be to join the Lancaster University Hiking Club.

The first trip to the Lake District proved quite challenging. We took a large coach down windy cobblestone streets to the small town of Langdale. There were three hikes to choose from with varying levels of difficulty. Being ambitious and a little clueless of the length of a kilometer, I excitedly chose the hardest hike and was soon on my way down the rolling, green hills to the trail head.

The first three kilometers were up make-shift granite stairs that climbed over 1500 feet to the top of the small mountain. The heavy morning fog clouded the entire view of the valley and made it seem like I was floating amongst the clouds. Despite my gasping for air and the persistent stich in my side, I found the strength to continue to put one foot in front of the other.

At the top, the fog had lifted with the defrosting of the morning and the view of the cascading valleys below was astonishing. It was here that it dawned on me just how outrageous it was that I came to England, utterly alone, and felt at ease and comfortable.

The journey of this hike stands as a symbol for my entire experience in England. It wasn’t always easy and I had to constantly work to survive in the new culture, but the ups and downs made the experience richer and more rewarding than I could have ever hoped for. If I had to take away just one thing from my time abroad, it would be to take chances on new experiences that challenge my knowledge and body and trust myself to succeed.

Jenna Wiegand, a senior in the University Honors College majoring in both Finance and Sustainability, spent fall term in the Turks and Caicos Islands studying marine ecology and environmental policy through The School for Field Studies. During her time studying in the South Caicos Islands, she wrote this entry about her new, and sometimes out of the ordinary life abroad.

Those that know me know that I sometimes have “a day for change” where I try something new. While this is usually food because I am a terribly picky eater, these last two months in South Caicos have witnessed me trying too many new things to remember—things that are now so commonplace, but posed such discomfort only two months ago. I’ve made a list of a few of those new experiences that are now a part of my daily life:

My ears are always salty from the constant snorkels and research dives. Every afternoon we have a field exercise or activity in the water, so there is hardly a day where I go more than six hours without being in saltwater (either the ocean or our saltwater showers). There is no fix to this.
My bed is always sandy. There is no fix to this either, unless I put a rinse bin at the base of my bunk since our dorm floor is perpetually sandy. Oh well. Consider it nightly exfoliation?
I have a serious bootie tan line. This is from my diving booties and this winter it will look like I am wearing permanent leggings.
I am now a vegetarian. This was mostly because we eat enough rice and beans anyway and the meat options are not that appealing; plus the black bean veggie burgers are much tastier.
All of us here at the field center count the days until the food boat comes in, and a pan of brownies calls for a stampede.
I tried tofu. (Shock of shocks) It was good.
Showering every 2 days or longer (once a week?) is perfectly acceptable here. Snorkeling and diving are seen as “pretty much showering” so there is no need for more. Yes, this is kind of nice but it is weird to think that what is completely normal here would never be fine in the U.S.
I am a pro at back-rolling off boats to go diving. And I’m getting a little bit more arm muscle from hauling around my gear, weights, and tank (what… 40, 50 pounds?? It’s ridiculous).
The best compliment you can receive here is “You look clean” or “Your hair looks clean”.
Special occasions (or just evening cravings) call for a trip to town to buy a pint of ice cream.
I can identify around 110 marine organisms… algae, corals, fish, sharks, rays.
I have held a couple of sharks and have tried to catch a turtle (yes, “turtling” is a real thing).
I have now spent 5.5 hours of my life underwater, and have dove to 73 ft!
I will never underappreciate a washing machine again. I now do laundry the “easy” route which means forfeiting my fresh water shower and using it to fill up a tote bin so I can hand scrub my clothes. And let me tell you, to decrease shower use more, the shower has a chain pull that you must hold down the entire time to continue the flow of water. So there is no way you will lose track of time and take a 20 minute shower.
Four pm snack might possibly be the best time of the day.
I don’t even know what a sweatshirt is anymore.

But clearly all is not bad in this place because I am loving it for the most part. Snorkeling and diving are indescribable, as are the sunsets. After dinner, the weather cools off and there is usually a breeze through the hammock area– then it is absolutely wonderful to be out. It is so nice to be a bit disconnected from technology and phones; a lot of the materialism and outward vanity of the U.S. is gone as well– you don’t have much, but it is so easy to be happy with what you have.

So at the end of the day this place is pretty awesome, even with the cockroaches and the salt.

Breanna Balleby is a junior in the Oregon State University Honors College majoring in English and International Studies and minoring in French. During Summer 2013, Breanna studied at the Centre international d’étude de la langue française (CIDEF) at the Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France through the summer intensive french language program offered by AHA International. She also detailed her term-long experience abroad in her own summer travel blog.

Weekend excursions, soirées with the moniteurs (teaching assistants), dinners with my famille d’accueil (host family), and of course mes cours (my courses) made my first experience abroad a flourishing success. All aspects of my French language proficiency (speaking, listening, writing, and reading comprehension) skyrocketed while studying abroad. Combine that with my continued appreciation and understanding of the surrounding culture française and it’s easy to see how my experience abroad was so fulfilling. To top it all off, I found it was the unexpected and spontaneous moments out and about in Angers that really enhanced my time abroad. It was at these seemingly unimportant times that I found myself fully experiencing la vie française (the French life) and practically blending in with the rest of the Angevins (people from Angers).

One of my favorite moments may appear rather mundane from an outside perspective, but to me it represented a realization of true immersion. I was waiting for the bus, as I often did while in Angers. By the way, I must take a side tangent to compliment Angers, along with the rest of France on its exceptional public transportation system. When I first arrived in Angers, my host family told me the bus would always be within six minutes of the time it was supposed to be there, up to three minutes before and up to three minutes later than the proposed time. I have to say, as a frequent rider of ligne 3 between my host home in Avrillé (a suburb of Angers) and centre-ville (downtown), I was very pleased to find that my host family’s tip was correct! It was quite an efficient transportation system and definitely made me recognize some ways we could improve our own public transit back home. Needless to say, I was a fan of irigo (the Angers transit system).

So anyway, I was waiting for the bus, right? It was a beautiful summer day, but there was an occasional downpour or two even in the warmest months of the year. Let’s just say, I came to France not knowing the word for “storm,” but left knowing very well that it is called an horage. This late-July day, I was almost to the bus stop when I felt a few raindrops on my arms that were soon accompanied by the sound of distant thunder. Within seconds, I had made it to the bus stop and the rain was pouring. It was amazing how quickly it was coming down, but what was more moving was the instant sense of community ignited by this deluge. People who had been walking along le Boulevard Foch quickly popped into the bus stop in order to escape the rain. In this moment, language was unnecessary to express the general shock and partial humor of the situation. A group of us were huddled together in that bus stop away from the beating rain and rushing wind, half smiling and half in awe of the scene before us. This moment only lasted a few minutes, but it is much more powerful to me than just getting stuck outside during an unexpected horage. At that time, everyone who piled into the bus stop was similar, and we transcended the normal roles of Angevin, foreigner, student, passerby, etc. As simple as it was from an outside perspective, it was one of the first times where my identity as “a student from the United States temporarily living in France” disappeared momentarily, and we all became “some people who happened to be outside during a passing horage.”

This experience marked the beginning of a grand appreciation for living in the moment. From that point on, I continued to search the beauty of simplistic or routine qualities of life in Angers. On Saturday, I went to the local marché en plein air (Farmer’s Market). I tried sushi for the first time ever with my French friend, Anne-Claire. I visited le Musée des Beaux-Arts (the local art museum) not once, but three times, after finding out that admission was free for students. During my one week off from classes, I even figured out how to get a library card at the municipal library! Lastly, I would always take up the opportunity to walk around Angers whether I was on my way home from the university, wandering downtown, or exploring the beautiful riverside park behind my host family’s house. Overall, it was these experiences that helped me fully integrate into the Angevin culture. By focusing on these serendipitous and passing moments, I transitioned from being an outsider and a tourist to becoming a participatory and understanding student of la vie angevine.

It is this quality of life, more than anything that I’ve taken away with me from studying abroad in Angers. So now, no matter where I am in the world, I have continued (and plan to continue!) to fully participate in and reflect on those seemingly unimportant moments. These preciously simple instances of day-to-day life should be appreciated for the potential of adventure, spontaneity, and/or even just a possibility of a shared human experience that lies within.

Kimberley Preston is a junior in the Oregon State University Honors College studying both Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences and International Studies. During Fall 2013, Kim studied Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management at the School for International Training (SIT) in Madagascar.

My whole life I have been a naturally fast walker. As soon as I decide on a target destination, I charge forward, taking long strides, and moving with purpose. After spending a semester in Madagascar, however, my technique has changed. As a student in a biodiversity and natural resource management program, I spent the majority of my four months abroad trekking through rainforests, spiny thickets, deserts, mangroves and the infamous tsingy (stone forest). All the while I learned about nature and immersed myself in the diverse environments and cultures of Madagascar. But, in a country rooted in the theme of mora mora (slowly, slowly), where success in life is measured by zebu count, family and land, where people live and breathe the environment around them, no one goes out hiking for fun. For most Malagasy people, hiking is not an activity of pleasure; it is a necessity of daily work.

In every new region we explored, the theme of mora mora persisted. Nearly three months into our semester, we reached Le Parc National d’Andringitra. This place was unlike any others we had seen yet. We hiked to base camp with all of our gear on our backs. The elevation gain revealed itself in the hours of steep climbing and in the cooling air around us.

The very next day, we woke with the sunlight hitting the cathedral mountains that formed a ring around our little plateau. Packing plenty of water and layers to shield against the cold, we followed our local guide to the trail head. Before leaving, Fidel, our guide, explained rule number one: he would set the pace. Composed of experienced hikers, the group was antsy to charge the mountain to reach our final destination, Peak Bobby, but we respected the rule and obediently kept pace with Fidel throughout the hike.

I soon realized, though, that this was not the usual, aggressive Western pace I grew up with. This was a hiking experience following the rhythm of a Malagasy man. For the first time I truly felt the heartbeat of this amazing place and I realized the value of living by the pace of mora mora. It gave me time to taste the cool, moist air; to hear my shoes scuff the dirt; to exchange ideas with my peers and live in the moment.

Today, back in the U.S. it is easy to fall into pace with those rushing around me—everyone charging forward with a purpose. Now though, I slow down every so often and appreciate the value of experiencing not only different places but different paces as well.

Alejandra Marquez Loza recently graduated from Oregon State University with an Honors B.S. in Bioresource Research and a minor in Chemistry. During her final term (Fall 2013) as an OSU student, Alejandra received a scholarship from IE3 Global Internships and interned with Child Family Health International (CFHI) in South Africa.

Fear is temporary, but regret is forever. That was the slogan for the Bloukrans bungee jumping advertisements that really got me to just go for it. Prior to arriving there I really did not think I would actually jump off the highest bungee in the world! Once there however, I just thought back to all my initial fears of what being in South Africa might be like, and how none of my worries had proven to be true. Just as I had conquered those initial worries and worked so hard to overcome the obstacles it took to be interning in Africa, I felt I could not pass up the opportunity to conquer another fear. I decided to jump. The first 2 seconds felt like the most terrifying moments of my life but afterwards came a strange calm followed by an extreme adrenaline rush. I was on the top of the world. I felt that if I had conquered that initial fear, I could really do anything I set my mind to.

During the ten weeks I spent in South Africa on rotations at hospitals, clinics and outside of work I found that the moments where I learned the most were when I placed myself outside my comfort zone and took leaps of faith with uncertainties. Cape Town and Durban were not what I imagined before arriving there but far exceeded any expectations I had. I learned to plan for things to go as unplanned and embrace the moments of discomfort. There were often little fears I had to overcome when I felt hesitant about approaching a doctor, answering questions during ward rounds, or starting up conversations with patients in my limited Zulu or Afrikaans. Despite my initial hesitations, I always felt it was well worth it when, to my surprise, it was such simple acts like those that taught me something valuable or that sparked long-lasting relationships.

Follow the link below to Alejandra’s original entry on the IE3 Field Notes Blog: http://ie3global.ous.edu/blog/comments/1364/

Erik Dove is a senior in the Honors College at Oregon State University, pursuing degrees in Biology and International Studies with minors in Chemistry and Spanish. He works as an International Ambassador for the International Degree and Education Abroad (IDEA) office. In Spring 2013, Erik participated in a medical internship in Quito, Ecuador, through Child Family Health International and IE3 Global Internships.

I recently returned from a ten week medical internship in Quito and Chone, Ecuador, through IE3 Global Internships. IE3 partners with Child Family Health International, an organization that connects local and international health professionals to conduct community health projects and global health education programs. My internship took place in clinics and hospitals in two cities, offering a comparative perspective on the health care available in urban and rural settings. Our curriculum consisted of daily clinical rotations and Spanish classes, yet offered ample free time to explore the cities and travel on weekends. On a professional level, this internship exposed me to differences in clinical care, ethics, and health education, stemming from the distinct cultural identity of the Ecuadorian people.

I lived with a host family throughout the ten week program. This opened up the door to cultural experiences to which I would not have otherwise been exposed. Our house was located in downtown Quito and was a quick walk to the bus stop, where I could access all parts of the city for twenty five cents. My host family was also able to give me advice on places to visit, activities to do, and foods to try. Additionally, my Spanish speaking skills were greatly improved by living with the family, as it forced me to practice my Spanish continuously.

I chose this particular internship site because it offered the chance to gain valuable clinical and language experience. A personal goal of mine is to become proficient in Spanish, so living with a host family and taking language classes as a part of the program contributed to the immersive experience I was looking for. During clinical rotations, we learned treatment practices, conducted patient interviews, and assisted physicians when necessary. An added benefit was that it exposed me to societal and cultural aspects applicable to my undergraduate thesis, which focuses on public health issues in Ecuadorian populations.

For me, the most valuable component of the CFHI internship was the opportunity to develop skills necessary to communicate with patients of a diverse culture. These skills are a vital element of being able to deliver effective care as a health professional. Throughout the program, my program peers and I witnessed the importance of considering each patient’s values, beliefs, and ideals. An individual’s cultural background may influence the attitude they have towards medicine, their physician, and their understanding of health. For example, during the time I spent in the Emergency department of the rural city of Chone, a patient was rushed in with a poisonous snake bite. Upon arriving, his forearm was blackened and enormously swollen. As he drifted in and out of consciousness, his friend explained that he had been bitten almost 5 hours previously, but had initially sought treatment from a medicine man rather than the hospital. Due to his delay in seeking professional treatment, he was sent into surgery for amputation. This incident represents the challenges health professionals face when treating individuals with varying levels of health awareness. Consequently, health care workers who are sensitive to cultural issues are able to provide a higher level of care for their patients. The internship experience offered the opportunity to develop my language and cross-cultural skills, and provided the necessary education to enhance clinical experiences.

An additional advantage of the internship was the exposure to a variety of medical specialties, which allowed me to explore focuses within the field of medicine. Our intern group spent each week in a different clinical setting, observing in the Surgery, Hematology, Emergency, and Internal Medicine departments to name a few. This made for incredibly interesting experiences in all kinds of clinical settings – gruesome dog bites, broken bones, and the rapid assessment and treatment of victims of accidents.

My experiences in Ecuador led to an appreciation for a health care system vastly different from that of the United States. I returned with greatly improved Spanish speaking skills and a broader sense of cultural awareness. The internship helped me to identify specific areas of medicine that interest me and allowed me to gain experiences that will enhance a future career in health.

In 2007 I decided to serve an LDS mission where I spent 18 months in Southern Argentina. For the first time I was completely immersed in a whole new language and culture. I saw things like one man with four kids on a bicycle, a dog that rides on top of the car (and barks at people), penguins that walk around your feet, and huge whales alongside the dock. Argentina became a second home to me. Upon my return I determined that just visiting a foreign land isn’t as amazing as living in one. This experience later led to studying abroad at Macquarie University in Australia, and completing an IE3 Global Internship experience with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa. It is safe to say that I am completely addicted to traveling abroad.

Now as an International Ambassador and IE3 Peer Mentor for OSU I have the opportunity to help other students prepare themselves to go abroad as well. As I talk to other students about where they want to go, applying, preparing, and everything else to travel abroad, I want to make sure their experience is as spectacular as possible. Traveling doesn’t have to empty your bank account, be a frightening experience, or ruin your plans for getting a degree.

Being an Animal Behavior and Psychology major I had no clue how much traveling abroad would actually help me with the my hopes for a future career. I was able to take classes specifically on animal communication in Australia that isn’t offered here at OSU.

Later I had hands on experience doing research with cheetahs in Africa.

Working with the International Programs is like the dream job for me because I frequently get to talk about my experience during the First Steps Meeting, help others make a plan for their own experience, and learn about all the amazing programs offered at OSU. The only unfortunate part is that I hear about so many amazing programs I just want to go abroad every second! Going abroad really is the experience of a lifetime.

OSU Abroad

knowledge without borders

Category Archives: University Honors College

Jump First, Think Later

A Day For Change

Joie de vivre: Discovering the “Joy of Life” in Angers

A Feeling of Place and Pace

Facing Fears

Comparative Healthcare: An Ecuadorian Perspective

Life as an International Ambassador

Contact Info