World awaits 70-plus St. Mike’s study-abroad students

Peggy Imai, Saint Michael’s College’s director of study abroad, sent the following message to faculty in December:

“Look around your classrooms, and I guarantee you that some of those students with excited grins on their faces are thinking about where they will be next semester.”

Imai reports that 70 students “will be traveling to places far and wide including China, Croatia, Iceland, India, South Africa, Ecuador, Washington, DC, and more …. They will be studying in classrooms, doing research in the field, volunteering at schools, and learning new skills at internship sites.”

Imai says in addition to students who are going away for a semester, “Saint Michael’s also has a number of adventurous souls who will be studying abroad during winter-session: One student will be going to Nepal with one of our program partners, and two groups of students will be participating in courses designed, organized, and led by our very own faculty.”

Specifically, Edward Mahoney and Jeff Trumbower will be leading a group to the Holy Land (RS 355, Palestine & Israel: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Holy Land), while Peter Hope, Paul Constantino, and Scott Lewins are taking students to Costa Rica (BI 250, Field Tropical Ecology). Imai said both of these trips are popular repeat programs.

Peggy Imai, right, with two now recent graduates who had study-abroad experiences as students, Leah Seften ’18, Amelia Weeks ’18.

“While we celebrate the ‘goings,’ please remember that fall semesters students will be returning to us after the holiday break,” Imai further told faculty, noting that 21 students will be returning to campus classrooms while two are away for the entire academic year.

“The world is a crazy place right now, but all the more reason to remain engaged and to find new ways, big and small, to contribute positively to the planet and its many and varied peoples,” Imai said.