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Wyatt Graeber ’00 –- Afghanistan
I am currently stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. My time here began in late March of 2005 and will continue until approximately the same time next year. My military occupation is in the field of nursing, which has given me the opportunity to work in our hospital's intensive care unit. Our mission here is to care for not only wounded U.S. and coalition forces, but also to care for the local people who may have suffered traumatic injuries and/or are critically ill.

Nadja Mair ’00 –- Japan
I went to Tokyo and Nikko, Japan, with my older sister in April. It was an amazing learning experience! We were there for 10 days and had an opportunity to see so many interesting things including: Sensoji Temple, Kabuki Theater, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, cherry trees (sakura) in bloom in Ueno Park, dinner at the New York Grill at the Park Hyatt Hotel, where "Lost in Translation" was filmed, the National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo and Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. I've become fascinated with Japan as a result of this trip. I'm currently taking Japanese language classes so that I'll be more fluent on my next trip to Japan.

Emma Thompson ’00 Meyer –- Mexico
The most significant experience I have had overseas since my graduation has been to the city of Guadalajara, Mexico. It's a city in the southern west coast of Mexico, and is the second largest city in Mexico, after Mexico City. I spent a month there. My husband and I traveled there with the organization CTI Music Ministries, and we worked with the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) group that is set up in the small town of Chapala just outside of Guadalajara. CTI Music Ministries puts together and sends teams of musicians that form a band to work with Christian ministries worldwide. We worked with the YWAM staff playing concerts all over the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located. One of the things that was wonderful about working with these organizations, was getting to travel the most remote villages of Mexico — places where people would never expect anyone to visit – and here come not only visitors, but Americans, and Americans who set up sound equipment and give them their own personal concert in the plaza. We can never know the significance of meeting them where they're at.

Danielle Ross ’00 Schwab – Puerto Rico
I studied abroad in Puerto Rico--not that global but it was definitely an experience

Kim Bastian ’01 – Dominican Republic
This past summer I went to the Dominican Republic with seven other people to work with a humanitarian aide organization called Avanzada Comunal Enseñando y Sanando (A.C.E.S.). A.C.E.S. is targeting poor communities within the capital, Santo Domingo, for the advancement of health and education. Among the founding members of the newly-formed organization are government officials, doctors, nurses, teachers and pastors. Part of our purpose in going was to take with us much needed supplies for a medical clinic in one of the communities.
While there, our group organized and ran street fairs for the hundreds of children in two of the poor communities: San Luis and Cabón. We played organized games, painted faces, gave out snacks, toothbrushes and toothpaste, colored with the children, and even had a clown at the first fair. One of the more visible and immediate results came during the fair we did in San Luis. Towards the end of the morning, a few of the men in the community started relay races with the children. It was awesome to see them take initiative to interact with the kids in that way and provide them with something positive and fun to do.
This was not my first experience in an environment such as this. I have also spent a couple weeks in poorer areas of Bolivia and Romania, but I was struck anew with the need and desperation of the people I saw in the Dominican Republic. During our first day there, we distributed 145 pairs of flip-flops we brought with us. As we did so, people shouted, pushed and shoved their way to the front of the line, thinking we wouldn't have enough for everyone. Unfortunately, many walked away with out flip-flops. The scene was the same at each activity during the fairs for the children. I have never seen anything like that. It is heart-wrenching. We take for granted the fact that flip-flops are inexpensive and easily accessible for us, as are many other things we need in order to survive - clean, running water for one.
In each country -- Romania, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic -- I have seen that those who have the least, give the most. I was overwhelmed by the generous, giving hearts of the people I came to know and love.

Karen Summerhill ’01 O'Donnell - Italy
My husband, Thomas O'Donnell, is a submarine lieutenant and we are currently stationed in Naples, Italy, or Napoli, as the locals call it. He is serving as the flag aide to Admiral Mauney, commander submarine group 8 & planning and operations for Naval Forces Europe. I arrived in Napoli in June 2005 after finishing out my third year of teaching third grade in St. Marys, Georgia.

During my time in Italy I have had the chance to visit nine countries. Living abroad has been a wonderful experience and I am so happy my husband and I pursued a position overseas. Of all our travels, one of the most exciting areas is close to home, the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento, the island of Capri, Positano, and Ravello are among our favorites.

Our Italian neighbors have been very amicable and have taken us in as part of their own families. Although everyone looked at us funny the first time we walked our dog in the piazza down the street, we have become known as the Americans who walk their dog on a leash and pick up after him (something you will never see the natives doing)! We have enjoyed many a caffe, glass of vino, dolce, and five-course meal with our friendly neighbors and are starting to finally grasp bits and pieces of the language. We will be stationed in Napoli until March of 2007.

Alexis Adamovich ’01 Thornton – France
I studied in both Avignon, France and Santa Ana, Costa Rica during my time at SU. I also worked with Dr. Scott Manning with students who were looking at options for studying abroad.

I feel that studying abroad was the most life-changing experience in my life. There is nothing which can prepare you for the independence and confidence that you gain by going to a country where English is not the first language and especially if you choose to live with a family who know no English. I strongly recommend to everyone that if they have the opportunity to go study abroad, be it for a week, a month, a semester or a year. It will be one of the most memorable experiences of your life!

Megan Wood ’01 – Honduras
In March 2004 and 2005 I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Choluteca, Honduras on a nursing mission trip with The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Hurricane Mitch devastated this area in 1998. The community is still rebuilding. In 2004, our group consisted of 15 nursing students (graduate and undergraduate), as well as five nursing faculty. Last year, our nursing team also brought an OSU dental crew and construction crew from Columbus.

During the time in Honduras, in 115 degree desert heat, I performed hundreds of women's health exams for Honduran and Nicaraguan women. In Honduras in unbearable heat, I performed women's health exams in mud huts on makeshift tables with a miner's lamp for light. Many of the women walked barefoot for hours to come to the "American team" for their exams. Because the College of Nursing performs this trip annually, we see many of the same patients year after year. During the 2005 trip I delivered nine babies at the local public hospital. The level of care that the Honduran women typically receive is enough to make any fortunate American grateful for what they have. So often we take for granted our healthcare and even complain about the healthcare system.

I make every effort before the mission trips to solicit donations for medical supplies and medications from my area church communities. In 2004, we raised enough money to dig three wells for the communities surrounding the church in Honduras. The people there had not ever had fresh safe water. Last year, we raised money to help build a clinic specifically for the church community in Choluteca, Honduras. I feel wonderfully blessed to be able to serve the Honduran women in this way. I intend to perform this mission for many years to come.

Meredith Lovell ’02 – Estonia, Germany, Nicaragua, South Africa
She’s lived with a coffee worker’s family in Central America, picked slugs off an apple orchard in Estonia to try to bring back to life a parsonage abandoned when the Soviets tried to destroy religion in Estonia, and lived with a single mother in South Africa. She went on one of Chaplain Radecke’s work trips several years ago and also went with the ELCA delegation to Germany when the agreement with the Roman Catholics was signed a few years ago. She’s also went to Biloxi, Miss., on a hurricane-related work.

Gretchen Anderson '03 and Berthie Ahern, prime minister of Ireland

Gretchen M. Anderson ’03 – Ireland As a current graduate student studying public service management at DePaul University in Chicago, I had the opportunity to begin my graduate career with a study abroad opportunity in Dublin, Ireland. Choosing this graduate path was an easy one because of not only SU's commitment to service learning but because of a volunteer program I did right after graduation. My study there was definitely intense being only one-week long, but working with Irish students throughout the day was not only incredibly insightful, but extremely rewarding. Often, graduate students overseas are older than American graduate students, so their added life and work experience were much appreciated.

After studying all day, I had opportunities to do many things normal Dubliners do, including going to the pub where I met Bertie Ahern, the prime minister of Ireland! But the most interesting part of my experience was going to St. Michan's Church. There are crypts below the church that hold coffins with bodies dating back to the crusades.

Lyneah Bastian ’03 – Dominican Republic
I traveled to the Dominican Republic in August 2005 for a mission trip. We stayed in Santo Domingo and visited three very, very poor communities within Santo Domingo. They were San Luiz, Cabon, and Haiti Mejia. I went with a humanitarian group called A.C.E., and we took medical supplies and hygiene products. While there, we conducted a street fair for the children. We had games, crafts, face painting, and handed out snacks as well as tooth brushes and tooth paste. There was a local doctor there that showed them how the tooth brushes and tooth paste were to be used. Basically, we had fun with the children and showed them God's love. I met many great people on my trip. I'm so thankful for the experience and am hoping to make it down again next year.

Lynn Burke ’03 – Spain, France
I frequently refer to my experience abroad as life altering and profound. Those are indeed strong words, but they are the most accurate adjectives to describe my experience abroad during my junior year at Susquehanna. I spent a year studying Spanish and French in Seville, Spain, and Paris, France, during the 2001-2002 academic year.

Studying abroad was a challenging year and as I was aware, but also learned in graduate school, that students need to be challenged in order for there to be growth and development. While abroad, you immerse yourself in a new culture, you speak a second, or in my case, third language, you meet new people, you travel, and for me and many Susquehanna students, it’s the first time you find yourself away from the comforts and familiarity of home.

As I reflect on my experiences abroad, I am forever grateful for the life lessons I learned. I became more independent and resourceful, I relied on my instincts, I struggled with all facets of my identity, and I saw global perspectives on a variety of international issues. I can’t say for certain what I would be doing professionally or who I would be personally if I hadn’t spent a year abroad, but I am certain I would not be the person I am today.

Andy Debrunner ’05 – Italy
I was recently on a month-long trip backpacking around Europe with a good friend of mine who I met at SU. We had an amazing time visiting cities and buildings that were older than our country but that’s a different and relatively uninteresting account. This story is a tale of fortune, coincidence and a small liberal arts college in a small Pennsylvania town.

It was a beautiful day in Venice, a day that you read about in fairy tales as a child and it forced you to wonder where these magical places are. Fortunately for me, I happened to be living a fairy tale at the time, so now I know. After my companion and I finished our sightseeing/gelato-eating agenda in Venice, we decided it was time for a moment of reflection to be logged in our respective journals. We had a train to catch, but not for a while, so it seemed appropriate that we would write as we waited for it to arrive. As I wrote, I soaked up the Venetian sun and generally appreciated living. Then I heard a voice off in the distance. “Susquehanna University?” it asked. “Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania?” it continued in disbelief. Now, the better part of me knew that I was neither at Susquehanna University nor was I in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania so, naturally, I looked around to make sure. In my glances about, my eyes saw a man staring at me in astonishment. In the process I also happened to catch a glimpseof my T-shirt and, to that point, I had been unconscious of the fact that it proudly yet diminutively displayed the words “Susquehanna University Crew Team” on the breast. It immediately became clear to what the man was referring. Instinctively, I responded with the first thing that came to me, “Yes”, I said and stared at him with his initial astonishment. “Class of 1981,” the man said. We continued on with general small talk as if we hadn’t just met each other randomly on a perfect day in Venice because he happened to read my T-shirt. And then, he left to get on his train. It took me a few more days to realize how incredibly unlikely that was for about a million different reasons. I didn’t catch the man’s name or, more likely, I forgot it before I could put it in the journal, but if he’s reading this right now, I have one question, “That was pretty cool, right?”

Nathaniel Wolfgang-Price ’05 – Belize
He writes about a 10-day trip he took in June 2005:
We spent five days in the jungle at Jaguar Creek which was kind of a camp and environmental station. There were two teams: a construction team and a medical team. I was on the construction team. We spent the days in this little village called Armenia, where we helped to build an enclosure in which the people in the village could wash their clothes and not have to walk five miles to the river and back. It rained at least twice every day and we would have to stop work and wait until it stopped. The food at Jaguar Creek was all homemade and delicious.

We spent another five days out on Ambergris Cay, which is a small island off the coast. Before we went to the island we stopped at the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich and got an opportunity to explore the ruins and climb the great pyramid. The pyramid is so tall that you can see into Guatemala from the top. On Ambergris Cay, we helped paint a Catholic school. The paint on the school was so old that we were able to peel it off in strips. While there, we got a chance to go snorkeling in Shark Ray Alley, a nature preserve off the coast of the island. The water was so clear, and the sharks and stingrays swam so close, I could reach out and touch them. I had a great time working, traveling, and getting to know the people I was with.

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