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I'm
sorry to say that in my five decades on this earth. I have not
been off this continent. I’ve been to Canada and Mexico and almost
every state in the continental U.S., but I have never been abroad. In
2002, I was able to experience a trip abroad vicariously through my
daughter. (please see page three)
My 17 year old daughter was
a high school sophomore at the time that she came home and announced that
she was applying for a scholarship program to study for a year in
Germany. Being the supportive parents that we are we did not discourage
her. Much to our surprise and her glee, she was the recipient of a
Congress-Bundestag scholarship to study in Germany for one calendar year.
In July of 2002, she left
St. Louis for Washington D.C. where she met up with the other scholarship
recipients to receive an orientation to the program. Then it was off to
Frankfurt and parts south for an intensive language program. Her first
exchange family resided in Aachen which is located on the Western German
border with the Netherlands and Belgium. While with that family, she was
able to travel to Italy, Belgium and Switzerland. She became immersed in
the German language, and although not really able to speak well, developed
good receptive language skills where she was able to function in grade 11
in high school.
After four months she
changed families and moved to a small town north of Hamburg. By now her
expressive language was taking off and she was making friends and
experiencing life as a real German.
Eight months into her trip
and on her 17th birthday, the war in Iraq broke out. She
engaged in political dialog with many of her German friends on the U.S.
role in the war. It allowed her to explore her own feelings about the
situation while explaining American policy to her German friends. She
assured us that there were no anti-American demonstrations near her and
that the Germans truly looked at the U.S. as friends. They understand the
difference between the American people and the Administration’s foreign
policy.
While in Germany, the
scholarship program allowed her to visit many different parts of the
country including Munich, Koin, Nuremberg and Berlin. While in Berlin she
visited the Bundestag (the German equivalent of Congress) and met
Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. When she arrived back in St. Louis in July
of 2003, she was a changed person. Her world view had become global. She
had a better understanding of herself, her own country and Europe both
historically and as it is currently evolving. Her career goals changed to
an international theme as part of this experience.
So why am I sharing this
with you since I did not directly take part? First, as a parent, it was
difficult to let our then 16 year old daughter go for one year. We felt
that the experiences she would gain would be invaluable and as parents, we
needed to let her go no matter how much we were going to miss her. It was
not an easy year for our family, but well worth the sacrifices. Second,
it awoke me to my own provincialism and how I needed to become more aware
of what is going on globally. Sometimes we forget that there is a huge
world out there while we live an ocean away from most of the planet.
Third, I want to encourage all you young people out there to take
advantage of world travel opportunities. In my youth there always seemed
to be something in the way of my not traveling. As I got older, married,
had kids and climbed my career ladder the logistics of travel became even
more difficult. I encourage you to seek out the world while you are
young. For those of you like me who are a bit older, be sure to make some
time to get off this continent and see the world through your own eyes.
Please give us YOUR opinion!
...and see what others are saying, too
The Global Forum |
Barbara
Keene Dean,
SCC Corporate & Community Development
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