Student Profiles
- Liz Korona - Grassroots Development and Social Change in Oaxaca
- Mark Anderson - Using Football to Explore England's Industrial Revolution
- Kaitlin Harding - Studying Disaster Relief in Guatemala
- Caely French - Experiencing Bangladesh First Hand
Liz Korona - Grassroots development and social change in Oaxaca
On getting to Mexico
Originally I applied for SIT's "Culture and Development" program in Bolivia, but the program had filled before I had finished applying. The SIT program coordinators were very helpful and we transferred my application to Mexico's "Grassroots Development and Social Change" program in Oaxaca. Although it was my second choice, this program fit into my overall interests much better because of the focus on social organizing. I'd also had an interest in Oaxaca earlier: in my sophomore year at Marlboro I'd taken an interdisciplinary class on "Latin American Social Movements," and went with a few friends to an Oaxaca/APPO solidarity march in Boston. When I told various professors and advisors at Marlboro that I was going to Mexico instead of Bolivia they thought it was a much better idea and that I'd be happier, and they were right.
On integrating Independent Study into Plan of Concentration
I really hoped that at the end of my ISP I'd have a draft of a Plan paper, but it wasn't that easy. The really great part about the ISP in Oaxaca is that you're working closely with a local organization. The tricky part is that you're working with a group that does incredible work and lots of it, so you need to figure out how to balance your own academic needs with the time that you're committing to the group. Even with careful planning things come up unexpectedly and take more time than you expect. It's an emotional month and it flies by. I'm happy with the project that I produced. I think that I got a glimpse the level of discipline that the Plan of Concentrarion requires.
On living in Mexico
I spent time in a homestay at the beginning of the program and in an apartment with fellow SIT students during the ISP. I'd say that living in Mexico is a great way of life if you happen to be from the U.S. The food is delicious and so cheap it often feels like stealing. In the zócalo there's always music and tiny kids running around with giant balloons. Oaxaca is a magical place, but there are also frequent reminders of the reality that's just beyond the tourist attractions. The tourist walkway is dotted with people who have migrated to the city only to end up holding out their hands for money. The already colorful walls are a patchwork of political graffiti and the paint the government uses to cover it up. Living in Mexico has made me take a hard look at how I live in the U.S. and how I conduct myself abroad.
Advice for students looking to study abroad
My advice would be to do it- it's no bed of roses but studying abroad can really change your life if you let it and work at it. I think that the experience is especially valuable for Marlboro students because after a few semesters of taking classes with the same people it's possible to fall into a sort of routine dialogue. With the SIT program, my classmates came from different types of colleges or universities and different places. Each of them had a new set of ideas for me to think about and test my own against. I think it's good to take yourself out of the whole Marlboro momentum and look around a while before descending into Plan. I also think it's important for all people to shake up their frame of reference, and if you can do it outside of the U.S., so much the better.
Mark Anderson - Using Football to Explore England's Industrial Revolution
On choosing England
I became interested in the history of football in England through my enjoyment of playing
soccer. I wasn't sure what to focus on for my Plan work and decided to incorporate a
personal passion of mine into my academic work. As I began to research the topic, the
subject became a window to view the developments of English society from the time
of the Industrial Revolutions and the Victorians through the 20th century.
On living in London
Living in the UK is similar to living in the US. I lived in the greater London area (25 minutes by train from Central London), and felt very comfortable in the area mostly because of the language. The main difference between the US and the UK is the confined spaces and the affects it has on the daily routine of the English. Going to the grocery store was an almost daily occurrence for the people where I lived in Kingston Upon Thames. The refrigerators couldn't hold as much food, which required more trips, but the grocery store was a short walk.
On England's football culture
The culture of football in England is very commercial. Since the formation of the
English Premier League in the early 1990s, the game has become more and more hyped and
more influenced by greater amounts of capital. There aren't any hooligans and the game
has become less of a working-class game and more of middle-class leisure pursuit. Still, the
game at the highest level is very well played and enjoyable to watch.
On advice to other study abroad students
My advice to future study-abroad students is to go outside the mainstream areas of the
country they are living in. The best time I had in England outside of the football
matches was visiting the English countryside. The geography there held no comparison to
any part of the United States.
Kaitlin Harding - Studying Disaster Relief in Guatemala
On choosing Guatemala
I spent a while searching the Internet and other resources to find an internship that interested me. I knew I wanted to go somewhere in Latin America and I planned on studying agriculture in Mexico. I wanted to write my Plan about natural disasters, so I directed my search towards that focus. I did some research into the affects of Hurricane Stan. The rural Guatemalan town, Santiago Atitlan was very hard hit during the storm. I found an organization, Pueblo a Pueblo, a small U.S. based non-profit working to rebuild a hospital that was destroyed by Hurricane Stan.
At Pueblo a Pueblo I worked mostly in fundraising to rebuild a hospital. While I was in Guatemala I also began working part-time teaching photography to kids. As a third project I helped out with grant writing at a small non-profit that was in the process of rebuilding homes for the survivors of Hurricane Stan.
On preparation for the internship
The classes that I took as a part of the World Studies Program, though interesting, were mostly unrelated to what I ended up doing for my internship. In addition to the WSP courses, I took some more specific culture/history/language classes, (such classes are now incorporated into the curriculum of the WSP program.) When I chose my internship, I tried to draw from all of my interests developed in Marlboro classes: non-profit economics, Spanish & Latin American studies, anthropology and photography.
On the weirdest food she ate
Maybe not the weirdest thing I ever ate, but somewhat unusual and very delicious was a treat that came around rarely in Santiago Atitlan; rellenitos, small fried plantains filled with refried beans and covered in sugar. A woman would come through the streets once a week, selling them out of the back of her truck.
On tying internship with her Plan of Concentration
My Plan will incorporate research that I completed while in Guatemala as well as research that I am working on now in New Orleans. While in Guatemala I researched non-profits and the politics and processes of providing disaster relief. I also looked at communal response and rebuilding after disaster and am also now incorporating many observations of the socio-political environment of the town. These topics have become major elements of my Plan. The WSP internship is often used as a way to develop research and ideas for Plan.
Caely French - Experiencing Bangladesh First Hand
On getting to Bangladesh
I first became interested in Bangladesh through Salehuddin Ahmed’s class on NGOs and development at Marlboro. He taught here two years ago on a Fulbright fellowship. His class drew heavily on his experience working in the country. Another added incentive to choose Bangladesh was the availability of research grants for student-faculty work in Asia.
I spent almost seven months in Bangladesh. First, Jim Tober [an economics professor] and I were there on one of the Freeman Foundation grants for student-faculty research. We were looking at the NGO scene in Bangladesh. Then, I participated in the State Department's Critical Language Scholarship program, taking a two-month intensive Bangla language course. Finally, I spent the fall doing an internship with a huge Bangladeshi NGO called BRAC [Bangladesh Rural Assistance Committee.] BRAC has a loosely organized internship program, and my supervisor, was Salehuddin Ahmed.
On tying her independent study into her Plan of Concentration
Since I went abroad in-between my senior one and senior two semesters, most of the research I did while abroad was academically geared directly to my Plan of Concentration. In my Plan I'll include a case study of my organization's dairy development project, one of my major internship research projects there, and I'll use it as an example through which to discuss urbanization and social entrepreneurship. In addition, a paper that I wrote during my internship (which was actually published in a Bangladeshi journal) will be used in a supporting paper of my Plan. More generally, my time abroad gave me much-needed perspective on all my readings and writings about development theory.
On living in Bangladesh
My time in Bangladesh wasn’t completely academic. Much of it was learning about the culture as well. I think the biggest unexpected cultural thing about my stay in Bangladesh was the political situation. I didn't realize how much things would heat up ahead of their elections in January; it seemed like half of the days in November were either hartals (general strikes) or oborodhs (transport shutdowns). There was one weekend where a few friends and I got stuck in a port city on our way back from a visit to the southern mangrove forests; after two extra days on our tour boat, we finally managed to get on an over booked all-night train back to Dhaka through the connections of some newfound Bangladeshi friends.
Advice she’d give to students interested in studying abroad
Here is some advice from my experience: be wary of a program in its first year, even if its prestigious, competitive and sponsored by a reputable institution. Also, take as much time as you can.