Article by: Cait O’Callaghan
One student who is “really excited” about graduating, but will be truly missed at Suffolk is senior and captain of the volleyball team, Kelsey Armstrong-Hann.
Armstrong-Hann, an international relations major with a Spanish minor, has done a lot at Suffolk over her past four years. She has successfully juggled work, school, helping others and participating on Suffolk’s volleyball team for four years, three of which she was captain.
She represented Suffolk at the NCAA Leadership Development Conference in Florida as one of 600 athletes from all over the country and from all divisions.
“We talked about how to be a leader in your sport as well as how that translates to the real world,” Armstrong-Hann explains. “They gave us personality assessments that helped us to see how we relate to other people and how to effectively interact with people from other personality styles.”
She has also been a part of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and was president of it for a year. The SAAC works to facilitate relationships between the athletes, coaches, students and administrators. They are also responsible for holding several events each year, ranging from guest speakers to pep rallies.
Originally from Oregon, Armstrong-Hann has traveled all over the world learning about a range of topics, from endangered species to elections. Even though she didn’t travel with school, she received credits from Suffolk for when she traveled to El Salvador for the presidential elections in 2009. While on her week’s stay there, she was a part of a 350 person delegation from 14 different counties. Her job was to monitor the election process and to help verify that the elections were free and fair without irregularities.
Among the numerous expeditions Armstrong-Hann has experienced, she has traveled to Uganda, where she learned about studying human trafficking and the rehabilitation of child soldiers as well as Ecuador, where she helped track down the Andean bear, an endangered species.
“I’m excited to graduate, but I’m also a little nervous because I don’t know where I’ll be in five months,” Armstrong-Hann says. “I want to go to grad school in two years. I’m definitely going to miss being able to meet people my own age [at Suffolk] on a regular basis who have the same interests as me. It’s hard to find that when you start a job. I’m also going to miss the professors, they were always so great.”
. noP<r students to go to other places,” said Hinnawi.
The study abroad experience reaches far beyond schoolwork. Students seek involvement in community work and student groups. An internship abroad is also a possibility, only the student would take less courses. Instead of four to five courses, two to three would be taken along with an internship. “One girl worked in Scotland in the tourism field,” said Hinnawi. “It was good for them to have her as an intern because she could give an idea of what American tourists want to see and do.”
Suffolk junior Meghan Van Vuren spent her Fall 2009 semester at Regent’s American College in London. She housed on Edgware Road in an off-campus flat with five other girls, three of them also from Suffolk. “Studying abroad is what you make of it,” she said. “If you’re open to meeting new people, adapting to new ways of life, and coming back with a new perspective, you will flourish from the experience. I can’t imagine any one segment of my life having more impact on who I am than living in London for four months.”
“It is great when students have the chance for additional traveling while abroad,” said Hinnawi. “Being able to travel inexpensively was definitely one of the biggest perks of studying abroad,” said Van Vuren. “When I went over there I was on a really limited budget, but we were still able to take two weekend trips to Italy; we went to Bologna, Florence, and Pisa, and then another weekend trip to Dublin. Over fall break, my flat-mate and I basically bought a 15-day European bus pass that allowed us unlimited travel during the time period to anywhere in Europe.” With that pass, they began in London; from there they visited Paris, Barcelona, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam.
“I love when students come by the office after learning about the Study Abroad program at orientation and activities fairs,” said Hinnawi. “Some think it’s impossible for them to go abroad, but it is possible.” Financial aid transfers, and scholarship applications are offered through affiliates.
“A Study Abroad student is very courageous and self-challenging, especially since he or she leaves a specific comfort zone,” said Hinnawi. “The student is affected with a great deal of self-assurance.”
