Ryan Pickerill

Education Abroad

My STEP Signature Project was an education abroad trip to study the architecture, landscape architecture, urbanism, and culture of Cuba. The 10 day trip began in Havana and continued through Vinales, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Varadero, Matanzas, ending back in Havana.

Cuba is one of those places that most people have a strong opinion about, but few are particularly informed about. So I’d heard from people who told me about a hellish country where all the citizens are miserable and government agents follow Americans, looking for an excuse to throw them in jail. I’d also heard from a family friend who thought of Cuba as a nice, big Caribbean beach resort. I personally thought that Cuba was some sort of time capsule, and that I should go see it before it changes. Having actually been to the country now, I understand it much better. The truth is, Cuba is a complicated country with a unique history that defies any simple classification.

As a landscape architecture student, I was surprised by the highly social culture and the quality public space. Cubans love to be outside and they love to meet people and socialize. As a result, their cities are built around public squares, Oceanside promenades, and streets that prioritize pedestrians, not cars. Even in a city like Havana, there is a sense that many know each other to some extent. The focus on outdoor space and social interaction was clear in the architecture as well. Most of Cuba is a mixture of Spanish Colonial and Soviet-inspired brutalist architecture, but it is all adapted to be more open to the air and social interaction. Cubans themselves are friendly, smart, and politically informed with varying opinions about their own government. Everywhere we went, they were enthusiastic to talk to us, show us things, and share their opinions with us. Overall this trip shattered my preconceptions of Cuba as well as all of the opinions I’d heard from others before visiting. As one of the most unique places I’ve ever been, it expanded my world view as well.

One of the experiences that revealed something surprising about Cuba was a day trip to the Vinales Valley, an agricultural area. It turns out that a lack of resources due to embargoes forced Cuba to develop some of the most sustainable agricultural practices in the world, such as the use of marigolds instead of pesticides. There is this tendency in the United States to think of places like Cuba as somehow behind, in need of “modernization.” It turns out that in some ways, such as agriculture or, as we learned from our guide, conservation (Cuba has some of the world’s healthiest coral reefs,) the United States may have something to learn from Cuba. As a landscape architecture student, this was a particularly important thing to see as sustainability, the environment, and food production become increasingly important.

Probably the biggest factor in changing my preconceptions of Cuba was meeting people. Sarah Daisy, our guide and a former teacher, gave us all of the talking points in each city we visited, clearly focusing on things that the Cuban government wanted us to hear. However, she always encouraged questions from our group on the tour bus. These question and answer sessions ended up covering everything from the environment, to the healthcare system, to what every day Cubans think of President Trump. Given her pro-government lean she was surprisingly candid, giving us interesting yet little-known information about what works in Cuba and what doesn’t. On our last night in Cuba, I had dinner with our bus driver. He spoke very little English and I, unfortunately, do not speak Spanish, but we found a way to get our ideas across to each other. He actually drove President Obama’s car during the Obama family’s official visit, a fact that he was very proud of. As a child he attended art school for percussion and is a talented drummer. We exchanged family photos, and then we played Six Degrees of Fidel Castro, in which I found out that his wife’s father was Fidel’s wife’s cousin (a relation that, he told me, did not afford him any special treatment.) Both Sarah Daisy and our bus driver were primarily positive when talking about Cuba and its situation, just like the taxi drivers, “Air BnB” owners, hotel operators, and tourism-related workers we talked to.

Another one of our trips was to an art school in Cienfuegos. The kids and teachers that we met at this school were, for the most part, enthusiastic to show off to us. We listened to solos and duets by music students, sat in on a dance rehearsal, and looked at artwork created by both students and teachers. This was a great way to learn about Cuba’s unique school system, with schools that specialize in the talents and interests of their students (art schools, math schools, science schools, sports schools, etc.) It was also inspiring to meet Cuban kids who were excelling in the things that made them passionate. We had a similar experience meeting art university students in Havana.

Of course, I’m presenting Cuba in an entirely positive light. It’s naïve to think of the country that way. Some of the interactions and experiences I had with anti-government Cubans were just as influential in my experience. We visited an art museum in Havana that featured anti-government artwork from various decades. Throughout every part of Cuba it was noticeable how much reverence the people had for Che Guevara, Abraham Lincoln and Jose Marti, and how little they had for Fidel Castro. Apart from in very touristy souvenir shops and on the occasional government propaganda billboard, Fidel’s image appeared nowhere-Che was painted on walls on every street, statues of Jose stood in every central square, and framed pictures of Lincoln hung in many Cuban houses. But my most important experience happened in Matanzas. I was sitting on a bench in the central square when an old man sat next to me, asked me if I spoke English, and then asked me if I was an American.

“I have to tell you. I am old enough to remember Cuba before Castro, and I am a history teacher. Cubans are not happy, they are starving. Even Batista was better than Castro.” This was a good reality check to bring me out of the positive haze the rest of the trip had put me in. It’s easy, especially because the Cuban government is invested in giving American tourists a good impression, to come away from Cuba thinking that everything is great. But it’s equally easy to walk away with some sense of superiority and pity for an oppressed nation. The reality is much more complicated and continues to become more complicated as the increase of tourism makes it clearer that Cubans are not all equal in a society that claims to be built on social and economic equality.

As I mentioned before, the public space and social culture in Cuba are excellent, and were important to these experiences I had. With so much pedestrian access to their city and each other, Cubans can encounter the ideas of others and share their own. This likely played some part in the Cuban Revolution and will likely play a significant part if there is another revolution in the future. Students studying design-related majors are encouraged to travel, because the more design you see, the better designer you are. This seems especially true for a landscape architecture student visiting such a public space-oriented country. This trip will have a lasting impact on how I design for the remainder of my time at OSU and into my career afterwards. From a personal standpoint, it was also very important to have my preconceptions of Cuba challenged once I got to the country, and challenged again once I’d formed a new opinion. In the future I will be less judgmental and more objective.

From January to June 2017, I was an exchange student at Universiteit Leiden—the oldest university in the Netherlands—taking courses in Dutch history and culture, European politics, and Southeast Asian studies, all fields less easy for me to explore at Ohio State. I was additionally able to visit nine other European nations, from Portugal to Bosnia & Herzegovina, during my time abroad and make friends from many more countries and continents besides.

Thinking about how I might have changed—or transformed—over the six month period of my time in Europe is a bit difficult. After all, I was just living my life, with normal ups-and-downs inspired by weather, news, homework, weekend plans. But, these six months weren’t normal; this wasn’t quite my normal life. The concrete city streets of Columbus were replaced by brick paths alongside centuries-old canals in the small town of Leiden; fries with ketchup replaced by frites with mayonnaise; English by Dutch (Nederlands). More importantly, my entire network of family and friends was suddenly an ocean away, a divide even advanced telecommunication technologies do not fully diminish. I was alone. And more than a little morose for other reasons—not least, I arrived to my new country on January 20th, just as my old country was experiencing its own decisive shift, the institution of a grim vision of the present and a grimmer vision for the future. (The friends I quickly made as school began unsurprisingly had many questions about Trump, and from January to June, I never stopped having to [attempt to] explain.) I left the U.S. in something of a funk but have now returned a more able, balanced, confident, and, I hope, worldly person.

One of my favorite novels, E.M. Forster’s masterpiece Howards End (1910), begins with a powerful epigraph: “Only connect.” Good advice, I’d say, and study abroad offers endless opportunities for connecting. New people, new places, new languages and customs, new creatures (e.g., I had to learn to get along well with the crowds of pigeons and seagulls who practically ruled over my near-coastal town), new experiences, etc. But only connecting only gets you so far; there is value, too, in being able to disconnect, to ‘process’, to reflect. Even though I could hardly walk across town without running into a friend or acquaintance from school—not dissimilar to the OSU experience—my time in Leiden was a lot more solitary than I have been accustomed in Columbus. (After I could not land a spot in a dorm, I ended up renting a small, slightly dingy studio apartment, fulfilling any fantasy I might ever have had of being bohemian.) My life was quasi-monastic, coming to resemble—with many large exceptions—those of the friars I envisioned each time I visited some medieval religious site or opened up Umberto Eco’s monastery-murder-mystery The Name of the Rose (1980), which I finally had time to finish this spring. Okay, just the extensive time for meditating and reading and contemplating the mysteries of existence were similar. But nearly as much as all the stereotypical study abroad adventures I was so fortunate to have (Eiffel Tower selfie—check), I was excited to have this chance to step away from the pandemonium that is my average semester at OSU: 18 or 19 credit hours, extracurricular meetings 6 days a week, parties and friends nonstop, never enough sleep. Three years through college, with doctoral ambitions one day, I needed this kind of break from routine, time to rediscover and reignite my passions.

Chief among these passions is and has long been movies. I had the great good fortune in Leiden that my apartment was centrally located within easy walking (or, in the Dutch way, biking!) distance to not one but three theatres—a close enough approximation of the Gateway/Wexner combo that I have taken definite advantage of during my time in Columbus. From American awards-season movies I missed to fantastically unique independent films from around the globe (Italy, South Korea, New Zealand, Finland) to blisteringly hot new releases, I loved finding the time to sink low into the darkness and be enchanted by the flickering lights in front of me. My cinephilia began in high school, something of an escape from the bleak sameness of suburban Missouri, but it was quite different in the Netherlands—there was nothing I wanted to escape from! I would leave the theatre and walk out to perfectly cobbled streets and bricked buildings straight out of a Rembrandt painting; he was born and raised in Leiden after all. But the best moments were when I made the 45-minute train ride to Amsterdam’s Centraal station, took a short ferry across the harbour, and entered the magical EYE Filmmuseum. Here was practically everything movie-related I could hope to experience: showings of classic films, like a restored version of the post-WWII romance I Know Where I’m Going! (1945), one of my all-time favorites; extensive one-of-a-kind exhibitions dedicated to cinema masters, including Scorsese and the Hungarian genius Béla Tarr; and special events, such as a public conversation between Tarr and Jacques Rancière, for decades one of the most influential philosophers in France and beyond. Unbelievable; incredible. I began college majoring in film studies but became disillusioned with my courses at the same time as I was becoming enamored with the breadth and depth of studying history and geography, basically anything across time and space. A few years of searching and cinema again seems to be one of the things that most makes the world—of today and days long past—understandable, interesting, and wonder-full to me.

But what a world we live in. Except for during the first few months of the Trump administration, when I longed to be back in the U.S. participating in protests against banning Muslim refugees/ignoring consensus climate science/stripping healthcare from millions/etc., Europe was a perfect viewpoint to understand the world as it is, learn how it has been, and imagine how it might be. In 1940, months before committing suicide to avoid Gestapo capture, the great German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin approached the fundamental duality of history in suggesting “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism”; both were still on display in Europe in 2017. In the Netherlands and in France, when not being dazzled by incomparable artistic treasures (often financed or plundered through centuries of intercontinental imperial exploitation), I anxiously watched the rise and eventual electoral underperformance of major ethno-nationalist political parties, Geert Wilders’ VVD and Marine Le Pen’s Front National, though this tide of what many scholars have identified as “neo-fascism” thankfully seems to have run out of steam. In Greece and Germany and other countries besides, I saw the very human faces of Europe’s much-discussed and much-vilified refugees from Africa or the Middle East, begging for charity and mercy beneath the grandest of architectural masterworks, whether the ancient Acropolis in balmy Athens or the gothic cathedral of chilly Köln. In Amsterdam and the nearby town of Haarlem I walked through the hiding places of Jewish refugees and ‘native’ Dutch-Jewish citizens (including the home of the Frank family) who tried and all-too-often failed to avoid the horrific treatment wrought by Europe’s most successful fascist movement merely 70-something years ago, never forgetting that, with two Jewish grandparents, I too would have met the Nazi threshold for persecution and extermination. Still, for all the grisly aspects of Europe past and present—America too, for that matter—I cannot shake the hope that both really can be a good enough refuge for people of all kinds, and soon.

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity,” wrote Irish bard W.B. Yeats in his “The Second Coming” (1919), a poem continuously influential since its publication as much of the world lay ravaged by war, things having fallen apart. I arrived to Europe in 2017 somehow, for better and worse, both passionately intense and near-convictionless about our planetary situation of famine, poverty, and violence, ecological collapse and myriad other injustices—and, more distressingly, our seemingly bleaker future. I left Europe six months later with, I believe, clearer eyes, wider ears, a freer mind, a fiercer heart. More than ever I am certain I want to become an anthropologist, a lifelong student of social and cultural phenomena, and, as I once wished, a filmmaker. But in whatever I am able to accomplish, I want to make sure to play my part in the global collective effort to address the many challenges new and old of the human condition. My basic convictions—of what is significant, sacred, to me—have been rebuilt and restored. Spending half a year in Europe provided the perfect time and place for connection and disconnection, for immersion and reflection. I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Windmill and canal (really more of a moat) on the northern rim of Leiden’s old town center

At the ruins of Delphi, an ancient Greek site famous for its oracle, with my friend Meera on a windy day

Krka National Park in Croatia

Bell tower in Bruges, Belgium

This summer I studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain for one month. During this adventure, I lived with a host family that included two brothers (Juan and Pau) and my host mother (Pepa). In addition to learning about the direct culture within the families lives, I took two courses at a local university – Art & Architecture in Spain and History of Spain. Although I only got a glimpse of the activities and cultures that Spain has to offer, I believe that this trip has given me a different perspective of the Spanish culture and customs of the country.

In the summer going into my sophomore year at Ohio State, I completed an education abroad program to Mérida, Mexico. During this program through OSU, I stayed with a host family and took a course with other students. This experience had given me a single view of the cultures within a Spanish-speaking country. With this STEP Signature Project, my view of this “single view of the cultures in a Spanish-speaking countries” has change drastically. In addition to my single view, I had learned more about the diverse culture that has shaped my views of the world and people that surround me. From a more relaxed schedule structure to family relations, my perspective of Spain has proven that no two countries’ culture are the same. This program helped me critically understand that diversity in our communities make us unique individuals.

One of my frst impression of Spain was that the country is much more family oriented. It was a shock to me to see that many people live with, or relatively close to their family members. In my case, I lived in an apartment with two brothers and across the street lived Pepa, their grandmother. When arriving to the brothers’ apartment, I found that they did not have a kitchen; so I asked them “where do you make meals and eat at?” They explained to me that their grandmother made all of the meals and that we would go over to her house to eat each meal. Later on in my education abroad trip, after speaking with numerous people, I had understood that it was common for families to live with, or close to one another as this was tradition in this area of Spain. Connecting this piece to my experience in this country, family is much more relied upon than in many other countries. This is an extreme part to Spain’s culture.

In addition to the relativity of family, I have learned that our own language (English) impacts the people that we are and help us understand the people and world around us. One night, at our usual family dinner in my home stay, I was extremely hungry as it had been a long adventurous day. I used the line “I am going to smash this food.” Knowing that one of my host brothers knew the English language pretty well, he questioned me and asked why are you going to ‘smash’ your food. He had the impression that I was going to physically smash my food with my hands and make it splatter on the plate. This had made me ponder about the way that we can use figurative language in a way that is somewhat “special” to our own language and culture.

The final piece that has influenced my ideas of this culture and country is that language itself. As a Spanish major, it is important that I hold a true understanding of the language and structure as it is unique from the different Spanish-speaking countries. Language is important as it sets the tone that one displays to one another. It also gives character that influences people’s perspective of one another. I had an amazing opportunity to improve on my language skills in a way that allowed me to know what phrase to say and not to say in certain situations – of course, because of the cultural influence.

This experience is transformational in my own personal life because it will impact my career as a future Spanish teacher. My first education abroad in Mérida, Mexico and this program in Barcelona, Spain allows me to compare and contrast not only the different dialects of the same language, but the culture and country aspects as well. When teaching a language, it is crucial for a teacher to understand different point of views in the various Spanish-speaking countries as well as giving a deeper meaning to the cultures that effect the language. This education abroad has helped me improve my Spanish skills along with physically living the experience in Barcelona.

For my STEP project, I participated in OSU’s Sustaining Human Societies and the Environment trip to Australia during May term 2017. During my STEP-funded trip to Australia, I learned more about the role of environmentalist practices in an industrialized society.  This experience enhanced my preparation to become an environmentally conscious healthcare provider by exposing me to societal approaches which support residents and their natural environment simultaneously.

My experience of studying the sustainability of human societies in Australia has given me a wealth of knowledge, motivated me to actively support the environment, and made my attitude more relaxed and connected.

Through immersion in Australia’s culture, I discovered national history, popular beliefs, and unique practices that I was unaware of before departure. While I had read about Australia’s rainforests and reefs before the trip, I was unaware that the entire nation had an immense range of biomes and natural formations. In Queensland alone, I explored scrub grass-dominated valleys, rainforests, wetlands, agricultural tablelands, and the ocean; while also learning about the deserts of Western Australia. The nation’s landscape variety and unique set of endemic species, formed through geographic isolation, inspired an increase in my conservation-mindedness at the beginning of the trip.

Furthermore, I learned that Australia’s political system differs from America’s, as the liberal and labor parties dominate politics based more on their constituents’ interests than staunch liberalism or conservatism. Our trip leader at Hidden Valley, Ross, taught us that citizens expect all politicians to actively minimize climate change, but parties fulfill that duty in differing ways to benefit their supporters. While that system sounds far more environmentally progressive than America’s, I was disappointed to learn that nonfactual propaganda has caused Australians to blindly support pseudo-environmentalist policies recently. Overall, such political discussions showed me that citizens can be motivated to vote with climate change in mind, but will only do so if environmental policies clearly support their quality of life and reactionary propaganda is addressed.

Another topic I learned about more extensively while abroad was the history of Aboriginal Australians. When we visited Mungalla Station, an area that carries a similar purpose as a Native American reservation in the United States, Native Australians told us about Aboriginals’ harrowing accounts of displacement, separation, murder, and intense spiritual loss at the hands of European settlers. On a more positive note, I was in awe of the intricate ways in which Aboriginal people toiled the land, with hunting and gathering tools including the legendary boomerang. The Aboriginal Australians also described some of their beautiful, nature-based values which are described in the Aboriginal set of spiritual values, which is called The Dreaming. Such discoveries revealed how unaware I have been of the world’s rich native cultures and the oppression they have faced for generations, which my own descendants may have contributed to. I plan to make myself more aware of Native American issues as a result.

Finally, I experienced small components of unique daily living in Australia, such as eating vegemite and drinking tea, and hearing terms such as “how ya goin’” and “thongs”. Vegemite, a bitter and salty spread for toast and other bland dishes, became a favorite of mine in Australia. When combined with a dose of butter, I believe vegemite has a pleasant rather than offensive kick to it. I now eat it at least several times a week, giving me pleasant thoughts of my trip each time.

 While experiencing Australian society, I also unearthed observations about myself as an American and as an individual.  I realized that in general, Australians seem more open to initiating friendly conversation than Americans are, yet speak less loudly than Americans. I found that combination of behaviors quite welcoming, and will now work to casually connect with those I come across in everyday life instead of just being boisterous with my friends.

In addition, I observed that expectations are relative, and adjusting one’s patience level can greatly improve happiness. While I was surprised to experience slower service, less Wi-Fi, and more rambling presentations than I expected during study abroad, eventually choosing to live in the moment without grappling for control alleviated my frustration. I learned that I am one of the many Americans accustomed to instant gratification, and that slowing down allows simple beauty to emerge.

Lastly, rural Queenslanders’ lifestyles showed me how long I often go without experiences that conjure feelings of connection to nature. Being outdoors brings me irreplaceable peace, yet I often fall into a routine of being tired by indoor classes and indoor work, while only spending time outside to exercise or shuffle from one building to the next. My experiences in Australia involved being almost constantly in nature, or at least somewhere outside where birds chirped and plants surrounded me, as modeled by my guides, and especially by my farmstay family. Our trip participants were divided into groups of five students each to stay for three days on farms with local Australians who own and toil them. Esther and John, our welcoming hosts, showed our group how difficult it is to feed and herd free range cattle and pigs every day, yet how rewarding it is to interact with them outdoors and produce one’s own food. I could not help but notice feeling more relaxed than I had in months, and focusing wonderfully as I completed assignments outdoors. Additionally, being immersed in natural environments made me feel more connected to other people, and I spent time considering the connections that diverse humans have as members of the same Earth. Now that I have observed the transformative effects of natural immersion on my wellness, I commit to do more studying, relaxing, socializing, and soul-searching out of indoor confines.

            While I’ve already discussed my observations from Australia, it is important to acknowledge how they’ve altered my perspectives and values. My value of protecting the environment has intensified and become more committed now that I’ve experienced a society where fighting climate change is a social norm. I heard numerous sobering, passionate lectures, discovered Australia’s political priority of climate change, and observed residents’ daily conservation activities, showing me that humans can do better than America does. For example, the first accommodation we stayed in was an eco-resort at Hidden Valley, which was powered completely by solar panels. Our guide and an owner of the cabins, Ross McLennan, taught our student group about the harm that carbon emissions bring to the Great Barrier Reef and atmosphere in general, as well as how affordable solar power can be with a bit of political investment in them.

On an interpersonal level, learning from Aboriginals, living with a farm family, and exploring local nightlife exposed me to views and behaviors different from my own. Since I was abroad, I worked to enter social situations with a more open mind than I would at home, and came to understand personal differences quickly. I want to maintain that open perspective in the U.S, as similar cultural and ideological diversity exists in America, yet I’ve been quicker to judge people at home without considering culture.

 Spiritually, I will remember the moments in Australia which gave me significant inner peace, which involved simple patience, mindfulness, open socialization, and connection with the world I am part of. Eliminating my phone’s presence for periods of time is another part of that peace. While gazing at the clear, vast constellations which revealed themselves while we camped in the Tyrconnell outback and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, I could not help but feel that unity of humans for the benefit of all is possible. Because of my travels, I’ve adopted a perspective in which I know how to create mindful experiences when I’m overwhelmed, which will help me in times of anxiety. 

Overall, I am pleasantly surprised by the unique things I’ve learned about Australian culture, which have inspired me to return in the future and also pursue discovery through other abroad experiences. As our professor, Dr. Sue Rasche, stressed based on Margaret Mead, one should “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world”. I am incredibly thankful that Ohio State’s STEP program enabled me to learn about environmental activism and be motivated to participate in it.

My STEP project was a 4-week study abroad experience that traveled to Rome, London, and the surrounding areas. Along with 23 fellow students and three group leaders, my group went on tours, sat in on discussions, and traveled on our own to examine the differences in history and culture in multiple areas. We spent a lot of our time looking at different cultures within each country and social issues that affect each community.

A good amount of this trip was spent on tours to learn about different areas of the cities, many of these areas had great historical significance. It continued to amaze me how much history each city had, simply the length of it impressed me. Compared to the United States, these countries have been around for ages. It really put in perspective for me how young our country is and how much time can change a place while still maintaining the culture.

 I came to realize throughout this trip that one of my favorite things to learn about is how simple, day to day life is different in places around the world. Though England is not vastly different from the United States simply because of language, I learned there are many small differences in our cultures. For example, people cheer for futbol teams instead of football and baseball, and healthcare is free.

It was especially interesting for me to hear about people’s perspective of the United States. Before this trip I believed that America was a great country, but I thought the rest of the world had so much more to offer because it seems that these days there are so many people struggling in the US. But what I learned from many Europeans I spoke to they believe that America is as much of a promise land as it has always been. Hearing other peoples opinions of America was possibly the most life changing experience of the whole trip for me because it really taught me that it is a privilege to be born an American citizen as I and my entire family have been. Our country has many of its own problems, and I definitely am not proud of everything that happens in this country, but ultimately we are all free citizens in a democracy. We all have a say in how our lives will turn out, and I think that is something I definitely took for granted before going on this trip.

I believe that all of the tours we took on this trip impacted my learning and perspective in some way. I loved the variety of trips we went on because each one built on another and taught me something either about history, culture, or both. One of my favorite parts of the trip, and what really changed my perspective, were the tours of religious facilities. We visited many Catholic churches in Rome, such as St. Peter’s, which was special to me because I was raised Catholic. This was definitely my favorite tourof them all simply because it was familiar to me, but I think I learned more from tours of religions different from my own. We visited a Hindu temple, Church of England churches, as well as a Mosque. All of these religions I knew almost nothing about before this trip. Visiting the Mosque was the most interesting to me because I didn’t understand much of the religion before visiting and also because of the current situation in the United States I thought it really important to try to learn more about what Muslim people believe. Hearing first hand about the religion from a member of the community was very eye opening. It gave me a new respect for the Muslim religion, but I wouldn’t say I agreed with everything we were taught. At a discussion with the British League of Muslims we sat with a group of men from the group who told us that they believe men and women are equal. But as they continued to explain some of their other beliefs it seemed that this couldn’t be true. One man said that if parents die their land and money is split up and a daughter will be treated as half a person, while a son will be treated as a whole. For me, this completely contraindicates with the belief that men and women are equal. It seems that some of the beliefs they hold are strongly rooted in the belief that a woman is lesser than a man. I am glad to have had the opportunity to discuss their views though, because now I feel well informed and better able to discuss the religion.

Simply talking to local citizens of the areas we visited changed my perspective greatly. It was definitely more difficult to do in Italy because of the language barrier, but overall I think I was able to communicate effectively in both countries. I think this is part of the trip I would’ve liked to have more time for. Meetings and discussions were set up for us to talk to a few locals, and I made an effort to reach out and talk to people in public places, but I would’ve loved more time in each country to get to know more people and hear their opinions. One of the best places to talk to people was at our service site in London. We volunteered for a food bank for a day collecting food donations outside a grocery store. On this day I saw many things, most of them positive. While not everyone reacted well to us asking for donations, for the most part people were very kind. I was pleasantly surprised by the generosity of people there who although they could not give much, offered to buy at least something small for people in greater need. It was here that I also noticed a great amount of diversity. We were in an average neighborhood outside of London so it was interesting to see the

range of cultures that walked in and out. People from every race, language, ethnicity, and economic status walked in and out of the store. This day also made me eager to look for opportunities similar to it in America. I would be more than willing to give a few hours of my time to interact with people and educate them on food banks.

I believe that if everyone in the world had the chance to visit a country different from their own and have a similar experience to what I did, the world would be a vastly different place. A month after returning home from my trip I still think about it every single day. So many lessons can be learned from traveling and I think I was taught some of the most important ones simply because this trip was designed to do so. This trip will continue to affect my personal, academic, and professional life for a long time after I’ve forgotten what the pizza in Rome tasted like. In my future career as a nurse I will face the challenge of working with and serving patients of countless different backgrounds and life situations. What I learned on the trip has further prepared me to better understand people different from me. And I can confidently say this trip has changed my life, my views, and my beliefs about myself and my country.

Alec Stewart
Study Abroad
Iceland: Environment & Natural Resources

My STEP Signature Project consisted of traveling and studying abroad in Iceland. As I traveled throughout the western parts of the country, I had the opportunity to both marvel at and learn about the natural beauty of the land. Upon further reflection, there was much I was able to compare regarding the culture of Iceland and the one I was so accustomed to back in America.

While traveling abroad, it was easy to tell in the first few days the different lifestyle of the Icelandic people compared to the one I knew back home. If I could sum up Iceland and its people in three words, it would be this: slow and simple. I don’t use those words in a negative manner. Instead, I use them to describe something that I envy. I’ve come to realize that I spend far too much time running around and not enough time enjoying the day.

As I subtly mentioned, I consider myself to be a fast-paced individual, always on-the-go and anxious when I have an empty schedule. However, submerging myself in Iceland with its lack of flashy signs and racing cars really allowed me to take a step back and understand my own culture. I personally feel that American culture encourages a “hustle to the top” mentality. In Iceland, however, “hustling to the top” only meant you’d miss out on the beauty of the climb.

Much of what I found transformative were not all profound events that resulted in huge change. Instead, it was some of the smaller events – the noticing of a passerby, a momentary observation – that caused reflection. Take the simplicity of the aesthetically pleasing views, for example. While observing the land throughout a hike up Glymur, it was hard to miss the value placed on Iceland’s natural beauty. I can count on one hand how many pieces of litter I saw on the ground, and the hiking trails had minimal warning signs. While it’s hard to replicate some of that simplicity back in America, it made me think about the things that mattered to me. It made me question what and who I valued, and it made me consider everything in my life that I could potentially do without.

As my journey continued and I met more and more Icelandic people, I began to notice that part of their simplicity could be seen in their genuine hospitality. With everywhere I went, there was coffee and water at the ready. By the way it was presented, I could tell that the refreshments weren’t out because a study abroad group was passing through. Instead, they were out because the Icelanders wanted to share part of their home and country. They wanted you to replenish while asking about the goat farm and how kid fat helped make great hand lotion. They wanted you to question what plants caused yellow dye for homemade yarn. Each Icelander had a great fire inside of them and by stopping to warm myself, I left with more knowledge of a country that welcomed me with open arms.

The other parts of my journey that had a significant impact on my transformation were all of the mountain peaks, waterfalls, glaciers, rivers, and gorges combined together. Whether it was a late-night hike up Valahnúkur or getting sprayed by the mist of the falling waters of Seljalandsfoss, each presented me with a stillness that I have trouble finding back home even now. When it’s just you, the trail ahead, and the sounds of nature, it’s hard to not slow down and notice. It was in those 5 minute breaks looking at the land around me that stopped time and took my breath away. Only then did I realize that I needed to immerse more of myself into the natural beauty of the world to combat the busy times of life.

As a witness to the culture and lifestyle of Iceland, I have easily been able to compare it to that of America. Back home, there seems to be an emphasis on materialism, consumerism, and competition where the appearance of many distractions takes us away from what truly matters. It’s as if more means more, but after traveling throughout Iceland, I can see that less really is more. Developing into a person that adopts simplicity into his everyday life has been something that has mattered to me since coming home. Doing so will help me to remember my priorities and stay grounded when times get hard. It’ll help me to find more joy in the people and world around me. And it’ll help me focus on how I spend my time and energy. Each of these is of great importance to me now as I grow a little older and learn a little more. Once all is said and done, journeying to the land of fire and ice has not just been a study abroad trip but a transformative experience.

For my STEP signature project, I joined the Fisher Sustainable Business Global Lab which took me to the Netherlands and Denmark for a week each and also Sweden for a short day trip to the IKEA Headquarters and Museum. In these countries we met with businesses and municipalities to learn and participate in discussions about sustainable practices and their organization’s efforts in that realm. In between our visits we were also able to visit museums and cultural locations of significance. We also had a free day in Copenhagen where there were no scheduled meetings so we were able to do whatever interested us that day.

I really got a sense of the “culture of collectivism” that we were told about in the pre-departure classes. It is easier for the people of the countries we visited to think more in the long term because there is much less political partisanship than in the United States; instead of rotating between the two dominant political parties that try to destroy the progress the other party had made when it was in power (like in the United States), the Danish and Dutch generally agree on issues like taxation, public services, climate change, and other left-leaning policies.

The highlight of my trip seeing the effort undertaken to combat climate change by both the public and private sectors such as Siemens and the City of Copenhagen instead of just reading it in a book or lectured about it in class. Everyone agrees that global warming is real and that action needs to be taken to combat human being’s influence on our climate. Our presenter for the Siemens visit was very informed about the environmental and social problems that his company is facing and also offered some very insightful commentary on his position on the issues. He had a deep understanding of the topics he was talking about but was practical about the problems that faced these issues which I found very refreshing. I had no idea of the effort that Siemens and its competitors had put into wind energy and their massive wind farm in the North Sea. This visit gave me hope that it actually is possible to talk about our environmental problems in a logical way that doesn’t devolve into something that is not constructive.

The city of Copenhagen visit was great for me personally because I loved hearing about all the work being done in the background to make the city of Copenhagen such a great place to live. A lot of their city planning revolves around mobility and seamless public spaces which I got to experience first-hand on my free day in the city. Even though I wasn’t able to ride a bike to experience the bike culture that Copenhagen is so famous for, I got to experience how safe and easy it was to get around as a pedestrian. The city’s architecture was also beautiful, a quality that is sometimes lost her in America where the extra cost of designing something better might cause less interesting architecture and designs in a lot of situations. I think the harbor baths were a great example of Danish city design; they turned the riverfront from something that was so polluted and run-down that no one wanted to go there into a tourist and investor attraction that gives a unique quality to the city.

I loved the IKEA Headquarters visit that we did because it seemed to me that IKEA’s corporate principle are very directly related to the principles of the Swedish people. Behaviors in Sweden are strongly balanced towards ‘lagom’ or, ‘everything in moderation’. Excess, flashiness and boasting are abhorred in Sweden and individuals strive towards the middle way. IKEA’s furniture is the direct opposite of what most Americans would consider to buy as furniture for their home; economical, ecological, and minimalistic. Good furniture for the everyday person is why I think has been so successful in Europe and now America.

This study abroad trip really reinforced in my EEDS minor instruction. It seems that much of the concepts I learned in these classes were applied to real life situations in the policies of the companies and municipal governments that we visited. The negative externalities of human economic growth that I learned about in many of my classes were a reality in the countries we visited unlike the United States where most people are far removed from the effects of their decisions concerning the environment. It seemed to me that, based off the people that I met in-country, that the Dutch and Danish are more accountable for their interactions and look past just how their actions effect them to look at how their actions effect the greater good of their communities. The culture in the US is more individualized; you are responsible for yourself and that’s it.

Name: Enxhi Myrtaj

Type of Project: Public Health Perspectives: Study Abroad Japan

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two
   or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project
   entailed.

My study abroad trip to Japan was through the college of Public Health. During the program, I traveled to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Minamata, Hakata, Sendai, and Ishinomaki. I studied the cultural, sociological and public health issues that surround Japan.  

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your
   view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP
   Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or
   transformation that took place.

My view of the world was greatly impacted through my STEP study abroad to Japan. Prior to this trip, my view of Japan was that they had great sushi and has a history of war with the United States. It was not until I lived in Japan for weeks that I truly experienced the Japanese culture and witnessed the kind hearts of the Japanese people. In Japanese culture, trust and respect are vital components. Whenever you had a question or needed help, the Japanese would help you the best they could with the little English they understood.

I also was extremely impressed by the care the Japanese had for one another. They emphasized working together in emergencies and respected their elders. Their work ethic is stellar and they always work towards improving their community. If we had this same mindset throughout the world, it would be a better place.

3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP
   Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in
   #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing
   the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project
   that led to this change/transformation.

There were numerous events, interactions, relationships and activities during my STEP project that helped transform me into a more cultured human being. Wherever I went, people knew I was a tourist and they did not take advantage of that fact. They would not charge me extra or give me the wrong change as they do in many other countries I have been to. They were extremely trustworthy and a few people on our trip lost their phones but it was returned to them every single time. If a phone had been lost on a train, bar or at a museum in a different country, the chance of finding would be slim to none.

However, a phone was lost in all three of those places and made it safely to the owner each time. In fact, the phone that was left on the train was delivered to the other side of Japan. I was extremely impressed by the trustworthiness of the Japanese. Whenever I asked for directions or for help finding a product, everyone was eager to help and tried the best they could. People also constantly bowed after talking to you as a sign of respect. The first few days back in the US, I caught myself bowing after talking to my friends or parents out of habit. I have stopped bowing since I’ve been home, but I continue to carry the same respect I did in Japan.

While abroad in Japan, I made friends with kindest people. My friends were born and raised in Japan but on a naval base. They went out of their way and traveled two hours by train each time to go around Japan with me. They showed me around Harajuku and Shibuya with no incentive. I feel so blessed to have had an authentic tour in Japan as it was something that was not included in my study abroad. I will always remember the friends I made and I still keep in touch with them. I hope to someday return the favor.

After my study abroad, I have a greater respect for teamwork and believe it is the only way a program or group can greatly advance. After seeing that the rescue crew in Ishinomaki was able to save so many people because of all the volunteers, I was impressed. The Ishinomaki red cross hospital was able to set up tents and a disaster emergency room in less than 15 minutes (including beds). I hope to carry this mindset of working together towards a common goal as I enter my senior year at Ohio State and with any other journeys I take in life.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your
   life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or
   development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or
   professional goals and future plans.

This transformation is significant to me because I plan on entering the workforce and eventually graduate school for my masters in health care administration. I believe that the skills I have acquired from my study abroad (teamwork, respect, trust) will transfer to my daily life. I hope to use my experience and observations of teamwork when I enter the workforce and work in a hospital setting since I will be around hundreds of individuals with different backgrounds than me. I will also treat everyone I encounter with respect in my personal life as I will hope everyone will treat me the same way. Even if they do not, I will continue to display respect to all. I also will display trustworthiness in my future endeavors.