Study Abroad wants you!
As the car sped along one stretch of Sicily’s coastal highway, Lindsey Montgomery knew opportunity was knocking, loud and clear. The driver screeched to a stop at her shout, and the passengers were left staring dumbstruck out the car’s windows while Montgomery, lost in the moment, ripped off her clothes amid a mad-dash across the lanes and out onto the dock. Naked, she dove into the water. Maybe they thought she was crazy, but she didn’t really care. Montgomery had always wanted to skinny-dip in the warmth of the Mediterranean Sea. Montgomery has a list of things she wants to experience before she dies. She’s visited Paris’ Eiffel Tower, gazed upon Amesbury’s Stonehenge and spent countless nights strolling through London’s historically fashionable Piccadilly district. She even got her picture taken by Rod Stewart’s drummer while drinking at the Guinness Sky Bar in Dublin, Ireland, though when he offered to snap the photo for her and a friend, Montgomery had no clue who he was. MHCC’s study abroad program has been around since 1972, with volunteer coordinator Dan Hannon greasing its wheels for more than 15 years. The program has received numerous commendations from the college’s district board and the International Studies Association, not to mention raves from the very students who have sported the title of international student over the years. As part of the Oregon International Education Consortium, which Hannon also coordinates, Mt. Hood Community College routinely sends more students than any other OIEC college – like last year, when it sent nearly 60 students abroad, while the OIEC’s eight other colleges sent less than 60 students. To Hannon, studying abroad is an opportunity for students to counter the fear he feels the United States is using to galvanize Americans against enemies abroad, and that tactic may be what is permeating a pseudo-xenophobia for some within the states. There’s a Buddhist philosophy that fear is the opposite of compassion, and Hannon said studying abroad helps “makes the country less fearful one person at a time.” MHCC’s board members, while they provide no monetary support for the program, agree and continually applaud the benefits of studying abroad. “Some colleges don’t think [studying abroad] is relevant or necessary,” Hannon said. “The board is very forward-thinking. They understand that if we’re going to be competitive in the world and live together peacefully, Americans need to understand other cultures.” Indeed, study abroad students – especially those who stay for an entire term – often face some level of culture shock when they’re dropped into a different rhythm for that long. “Cultural immersion feels a little bit like you’re drowning,” said Hannon, “Students start to realize things don’t work the same ways in other cultures,” and there’s no choice but to try and fit in, like Kyle Konell tried to do. Konell, a business management major, left for Florence a few weeks ahead of his group and toured the Italian countryside by motorcycle with his father. He expected Florentines to treat him rudely, even expected them to be angry toward him because he’s an American, but he grew to respect their culture and came home saying, “Most were just as interested in me as I was in them.” Konell knew he had wanted to travel to Europe since he was in high school, and he never forgot that dream. “Europe is an amazing place,” he said. “They are so different from us, and until I actually went there, I didn’t think things could [operate] in any other way than how the U.S. does it. But in some ways, a lot of ways, they do it better.” Montgomery felt the same appreciation when she went to Florence and London, and said of the two trips, “What you learn halfway around the world in a completely different culture and place, no amount of money can buy that. The experience that you get doing that, it’s irreplaceable,” though she did say the British were the rudest people she’s ever met.
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