The world is my classroom.
I’ve been asked a few times this past week what my travel with my program means, and how we get to miss class so often.
In traditional university settings, students go to each class for 3 hours a week for 16 weeks. Here, we go to each class for about 5 hours a week for 12 of the 16 weeks of the semester. So theoretically I’m spending the same amount of time in the classroom.
Theoretically. This is an island, full of island people with an island mentality. I honestly had a professor walk past our classroom the other day, turn around, walk in looking surprised and say, “Well shit. You guys are here. I thought we didn’t have class today.” It’s a once a week class. He ended up giving us an assignment and sending us on our way after about 45 minutes. The assignment is due in over a month.
This is also the same professor who had us meet at a bar for our midterm. In his defense, it is a bar and restaurant management class, and we did apply what we have been learning in class.
Island people don’t do well with stress.
Standing over Athens last week, on the Acropolis
All joking aside…
We do go to class, most of the time it isn’t cancelled, and most of the time I learn a lot. All of my professors are Cypriot, have the highest degrees in their field, and are well traveled.
I have been learning a lot from them, and what we are discussing in the classroom I have been able to apply while traveling. For example, in my European Cultures class we have an assignment to study one part of a culture and do field work, then write a 12 page paper on our findings. Since cafe culture is big here, I have been spending time in each city I visit ordering whatever seems local (Italy- espresso, Cyprus- frappe, Greece- ‘coffee’). I will write about the differences in time spent at cafes, what people order, the size of the drinks, what people do once at the cafes, when patrons pay, etc.
In my International Marketing class, we have similar projects but with a distinct marketing focus. Yesterday, I gave a midterm presentation on the effects of public vs private energy in Europe for my International Business class.
The Coloseum in Rome
Where does all this travel come in?
We don’t have classes while we travel, but we learn more than we ever could in the classroom. We have what we’ve been talking about in the classroom in the back of our heads as we travel, and are more cognizant of our environment while we travel.