Name: Matelin Winer
Type of Project: Education Abroad
- Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.
For my STEP project I participated in a study abroad experience that involved a week class on campus and then traveling to the sites we research as a part of the class. My program was called the Engineering of Castles and Cathedrals. Each group in the class was given a location to study. The location my partner and I were given was Chepstow Castle located in Chepstow, Wale, right on the boarder of England and Wales. We researched our location while still in the United States, using books we had found. At the end of the week of class we gave preview presentation of our site to the class. Everyone discussed the basic information about their site such as the location, dates in use, as well as a brief history. We then traveled over to England over the weekend and spent the remained of the program traveling to each of the sites we studied. When at each site the students who studied the site gave a tour. This presentation went more in depth and pointed out important parts of each site. At the end of the trip, we had one free day in London to see the sites we wanted. Finally, we all left each other the last day in London and traveled home on our own.
- 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.
After traveling abroad, I have the ability to travel by myself. I have not flown many times in my life and I have never flown alone. After traveling over to England as group, I traveled home alone. Having navigated international travel on my own gives me more confidence to fly other places alone and the confidence that I can handle any domestic flights. I also experienced navigating bigger cities while abroad. I gained experience using the London Underground. Columbus doesn’t have a subway system even though many large cities do. I think it was valuable to learn how to navigate such systems. Finally, I also learned how to navigate through foreign cities that I have never visited before. Not having available cell service while abroad meant that reading maps correctly became very important.
Before I traveled to England and Wales, I was expecting the difference between the countries to be minimal. Both countries are first world countries that speak England so I was surprised to see that there are many difference between our ways of living. Their monetary system differs from ours. Their system of currency depends much more on coins than the United States. I found that this was actual enjoyable and paying for things in cash wasn’t as difficult once you understood the coinage. They also live in cities that can vary from our cities. There are not suburbs like there are in the United States. Most of the living spaces are much smaller than in the US and the cities have a much stronger sense of history and tradition to them. Finally, the speech patterns are different. While I was still able to understand them when they spoke, they have colloquial phrases that we do not and vis versa.
- 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.
Having travel to many difference cities and two different countries while abroad, I was given many different opportunities to observe and interact with the diverse cultures. Getting to eat at restaurants with the locals and talk to them in pubs gave me insight as to how they live. Many of the locals were very welcoming and were more than happy to answer questions about the sites we were visiting or just about the city in general. I also had the opportunity to visit some grocery stores while on the trip which gave a look into the locals’ everyday life.
When I traveled home alone I had to take the London Underground to the airport and from there I had to navigate Heathrow Airport, which is quite large and set up differently than airports in the US. They have a common waiting area for everyone who is waiting for a flight. An hour before the flight is scheduled to leave, the screens post the gate from which the flight will be departing. Once I flew back to the US I had to catch a connecting flight to get back to Columbus. I experience many different aspects of traveling through this process.
Finally, traveling to cities that have these old castles and cathedrals in their town gave me the ability to see how people interacted with the site. Some, such as small children, barely acknowledge the significance of such a structure being down the street from their house. Others, spend their free time volunteering to help the preservation effort of these wonderful sites. There is also a difference between the bigger cities that have very popular tourist sites and those that don’t have as many visitors. The people are much more personally welcoming at the smaller less popular sites.
- 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.
Having travelled to another country and experienced a different culture is significant because it has encouraged me to travel to other places that are different from my hometown. I hope that having experienced this trip with a group it will give me the courage to explore other countries on my own. It also gave me a new appreciation for home. Being away from family and friends for an extended period of time made me appreciate what I had upon my return.
Finally, having experience international travel I feel that I have become more adaptable. When I was traveling I had to find my own way through airports and terminals. I was only able to prepare for my travel so much and so I had to be ready for changes as I went. I also experienced gates being changed and board passing issues on my trip home. All of these changes went smoothly and I was able to handle them. It taught me that as long as you are prepare for changes to happen and you are willing to find the right resources to help you, everything will be fine.
