Student widens her horizons in Croatia
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/July/29-2107-news3.txt
July 29, 2002
Student widens her horizons in Croatia, Italy and Greece
MOHAVE VALLEY – The valedictorian from River Valley High School’s class of 2000 found out this summer that she doesn’t know it all.
Nichole Loman, 20, said “I learned that the world has a lot more to offer than the tiny world that we grew up in, it was interesting to see how different people live and their cultures.”
Loman learned these things while studying abroad in Croatia, Italy and Greece for five weeks this summer. She took the opportunity to study abroad with Arizona State University (ASU) honors program, earning six upper divisions honors credits.
“I really wanted to study abroad and I needed the honors credits, so I thought why not get credits and see the world,” she said.
Loman paid for the trip by herself, waitressing between classes to earn the money.
The two topics of the classes for the 28 ASU students were the “memory and identity in the modern Mediterranean and “encounters with the divine, ancient and medieval Mediterranean.”
According to Loman the classes weren’t set up in a college-like structure.
“We had our classes in museums, parks, churches and archeological sites. They (the professors) would teach us about the history of the area we were in, the Christianity and how the country came to power,” she said.
Classes were held two days a week for two hours a day. Throughout the trip the students had to write four responsive essays. Before receiving a final grade each student has to write two ten- pages essays that are due during the up coming school year.
Besides studying, the students were encouraged by the professors to explore the countries.
“It was so nice to have long weekends to experience the culture and the people. We never had to go and do tours, we got to choose what we wanted to see and do,” she said.
Loman took the opportunity to see ancient sites including the Parthenon, Delphi, St. Peters Basillica, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Spanish Steppes, the Vatican and Pompeii.
According to Loman one of the highlights of the trip was the food.
“We ate a lot! All the food was really good – expect for the food in Greece. It didn’t have a lot of flavor so we had to squeeze lemon on everything there to taste good,” she said.
After visiting the three countries, Loman said Croatia was her favorite.
“Croatia was very different than I expected. I thought it would be like the images I saw on TV; a war torn country with poor people in the street. It was so beautiful, it had gorgeous beaches and the people were so nice. It was so relaxing and not at all what I was expecting,” she said.
After making friends, seeing new places and learning about cultures very different from her own, Loman has plans to study abroad again soon.
“I have plans to go back in the spring to study a semester over there. I am hoping to study in either Glascow, Scotland, or Dublin, Ireland, so I can eventually earn my international business certificate,” she said.
Loman will be a junior at Arizona State University this fall. She is majoring in business and is planning to pursue a career in international marketing.