Tag Archives: international experience

Celebrating International Education Week at the CCE

Every year, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education celebrate international exchanges and education through their join initiative called International Education Week (IEW). This program is meant to “prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences” (iew.state.gov).

Here at Middlebury, we are committed to bringing global perspectives into one space as well as developing intercultural experiences through many ventures. Some larger educational opportunities include study abroad, language schools, and language classes. The Center for Community Engagement also supports ventures that allow students to explore new cultures and share their own cultures within the Middlebury community and beyond. Some of these are the Language in Motion (LiM), domestic and abroad MAlt trips (Middlebury Alternative Break Program), the Cross Cultural Community Service (CCCS) fund, Japan Summer Service Learning Program, and Academic Outreach Endowment grants.

We’ll take this International Student Organization’s (ISO) International Week as an opportunity to highlight three of these internationally focused programs!

Language in Motion (LiM) connects students who have a cross cultural experience through Middlebury’s international, study abroad, and upper level language programs with Addison County high school and middle school teachers, students, and classrooms. After training and with guidance from CCE staff, students provide lessons that promote global awareness, cultural competence, and world language acquisition. 

I love Language in Motion because it makes me think about my experiences as a bi-cultural person who grew up in both Thailand and the US, and how that impacts how I see my two cultures, the world, and also a new language and culture (Spanish/Hispanic culture) that I was introduced to when I was 15. It is always an exciting challenge to think about how to relate my experiences (and make them accessible) to different age groups, whether it be 3rd graders, 6th graders, or high schoolers, and the opportunity to go off campus to present is always a welcome break from the Middlebury College bubble.

Pim Singhatiraj ‘21.5, a Language in Motion participant teaching Spanish and Spanish/Hispanic culture
Pim Singhatiraj ’21 conducting a reflection session about global perspectives for students from the Addison County area

The MAlt Program allows Middlebury students to design and plan six trips during February Break in both national and international destinations. The goal of these trips is to allow students to engage with outside communities by providing service when and where it is needed and learn from these engagements.

Being from the Caribbean, I didn’t quite know what to expect from my MAlt trip. I had only been to Trinidad & Tobago, an island that I related to and knew as a second home. The Dominican Republic showed me a completely different side of the Caribbean, where people spoke Spanish, ate Mangú and listened to Bachata. My MAlt trip taught me that there are never-ending perspectives no matter what your expectations might be.

 Melynda Payne ‘21, a participant in the Dominican Republic Alternative Break Trip
Melynda Payne ’21 at the Dominican Republic MAlt trip with a view of the natural landscape of the country
MAlt participants in the Dominican Republic spend time with Dominican students, doing crafts and participating in student-led lessons

The CCCS Fund (CCCS) supports international service-learning and community-building internships and/or related volunteer service opportunities for undergraduate students. These internships and service initiatives may be student designed while preference is given to those opportunities in a culture distinctly different from the applicant’s background, usually outside of the U.S. Since 2009, the CCCS fund has supported 315 student-led projects, in 70 different countries!

My time in Nosara provided me essential context for my studies at Middlebury, as well as real-world experience in what can often be a stale research-based field. I was encouraged more than ever to pursue my goals of teaching English abroad after I graduate, in the many forms that this might take.

Spencer Royston ’21, supported by CCE’s Cross Cultural Community Service Fund last winter to work with a library in Nosara, Costa Rica 
Spencer Royston ’21 engaging in the Nosara community

Besides LiM, MAlt, and the CCCS fund the CCE has other programs that are also focused on global engagement and perspectives, and you can explore them via their websites linked here: Academic Outreach Endowment, Japan Summer Service Learning Program, and Jiran. 

We encourage students to engage in communities beyond of our Vermont Middlebury experience, through the many connections offered here. As we can learn from students’ experiences described above, global experiences can expand our perspectives within our increasingly interconnected society. The numerous opportunities that the CCE offers are meant to do just that!

What Happens When 50+ MiddKids Go on MAlt Trips

This past February break, six groups of Middlebury students escaped the wintry Vermont weather, traveling as many as 3,000 miles to six respective locations around the globe. Middlebury Alternative Break Trips, affectionately referred to as MAlt trips, are service-oriented experiential-learning trips. This year the 50+ MAlt participants traveled to Guatemala, Washington DC, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Miami, and New York City, and addressed issues ranging from permaculture to privilege and poverty in vastly diverse local communities.

“The trip was eye-opening and life-changing […] I intend to try to lead a MAlt trip myself, motivated by how powerful and influential and rewarding this trip has been,” one MAlt Washington DC participant said.

Returning to campus, many students remarked that their MAlt trip has left an enduring mark on them.

Another student who participated in the Building Communities trip in Guatemala, working with Constru Casa and Tecnologia Para Salud (TPS), noted that “[…] it was more than I ever imagined and will have lasting impact on me. It taught me the power of active learning. Moreover, it taught me that it is not enough to be ‘book smart’.”

As students reflected on their rich experiences and personal growth, they also explored the ethics of service and development work. What role does service play in a community? How can we responsibly contribute to a community that is not our own? What is sustainable service and development? How can we unpack our own privilege in relation to certain communities based on identities of race, class, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on? How can we best learn from each other?

Read on: MAlt participants will answer these questions, explain the ins and outs of travel in-country and abroad, talk small group dynamics and new friendships, and tell of the challenges and lasting benefits of volunteerism and service.

Over the course of their trips these Middkids kept quite busy. Elsa Avarado ’18 of MAlt Miami, a group that worked at a schools, wrote in, “Some of the projects that we did for the school included: spreading wood chips all over the playground, re-planting the garden, etc. Our days were very packed.”

Dylan Gilbert and Mariam Khan, both class of 2017, wrote about their trip to Mexico and the opportunity it afforded an unlikely group of students to get to know each other. Dylan Gilbert is an Art History and Russian double major from St. Peters, Missouri and Mariam Khan is a student of Math, Religion, and Education Studies from Waterville, Maine.

They wrote, “MAlt trips really have the ability to bring together a variety of students from across campus that would most likely never intersect otherwise. Our trip was no different. We had an extremely diverse group of 12 students (including us). Every class year was represented. Majors ranged from Physics to Art History to Women and Gender Studies to Math, and even geographically our participants came from all over the United States and even the world. All of our participants were exceptional individuals that each contributed their own unique perspective and experiences to the group dynamic.”

Dylan, Mariam, and other MAlt Mexico participants also reflected upon certain challenges that the group faced, from linguistic capabilities to the politics of international tourism.

“In addition to working with children at the daycare, our group also explored issues of inequality and poverty in San Miguel de Allende, a town known for its expat communities and tourism. Our goal was the offer a caring hand to Casa and a critical eye to privilege as we engaged in our work at the center […] Not everyone on our trip knew Spanish, which was challenging but encouraging since everyone was still able to engage equally […] The town of San Miguel itself has a problematic history with tourism and expats, and through this trip, we were able to observe and analyze the complex nature of the community while still recognizing our own role in the broader narrative of San Miguel. Overall, our experiences in San Miguel de Allende provided able opportunity to physically engage with our work and each other and also to better understand the effects of tourism on the local populations of San Miguel.”

Similar to the reflections of MAlt Mexico participants, a MAlt Puerto Rico participant noted that, “This trip was useful in informing me on culturally-appropriate service abroad.” This learning, however, certainly came with challenges, even if small ones. On the MAlt Miami trip, for instance, showering at night in an outdoor shower and staying in a low-income neighborhood posed an adjustment for some of the participants.

As far as community partners goes, the reviews of the Middkids were extremely positive. Jessica Towers of DC Central Kitchen worked with the Washington DC trip focusing on issues of privilege and poverty. She said, “The Middlebury students that came to work with us were awesome! They were friendly, helpful, and hardworking.” Community partner Cale Johnson of Casa de los Angeles, a non-profit in Mexico that provides a safe haven for single mothers and their children, writes, “We were really pleased and impressed with all of the students in the group. They came willing and enthusiastic to help and as such left a great impact on our organization.”

The students in turn expressed their appreciation for the community partners and organizations with whom they worked. MAlt Miami wrote in, “I would most definitely recommend ICO to other MAlt leaders because they truly made us feel welcome and they were so grateful for our help. Even though we were so grateful to be part of the team!” MAlt Puerto Rico also chimed in, “Working with Plenitud was a very symbiotic relationship.”

Indeed, many trip-goers said they would recommend the organizations they worked with to future MAlt participants. Despite the challenges they encountered, participants found that they made a difference in and learned from the communities they served thanks to moments of reflection, communication, and hard work. In the words of one MAlt Guatemala participant, “Service is possible by team work and willingness to learn.”

So, what do you say? Will you be next? Will a life-changing MAlt trip be part of your 2016 or 2017?

Learn more about Middlebury Alternative Break Trips at go/malt and view photos from this year’s trips on Facebook.

 

~Alison Haas ’16, CE Communications Intern

LiM Spring Deadline Approaching…!

Do you have an intercultural passion?

Are you an upper-level language student with cultural awareness?

Have you returned from study abroad or spent time abroad?

Are you an international student?

 

Meet Language in Motion!

 lim blog1

Language in Motion (LiM) is an educational collaboration that connects Middlebury’s international, study abroad, and upper level language students with local high school and middle school teachers, students, and classrooms.

 

With support and training, Middlebury College students prepare and deliver lessons that promote global awareness, cultural competence, and world language acquisition.

 

LiM presentations are designed to support the host teacher’s learning objectives. School-age children gain new exposure to diverse culture, language, and experience, and the opportunities that college can offer. Middlebury College students gain exposure to the secondary teaching environment and deepen their international and intercultural experience through personal and shared reflection.

 

Language in Motion is currently accepting applications for fifteen presenter positions for the spring semester. There is an optional information session this Thursday, February 25 at 7:15 in the Community Engagement Office at 118 South Main Street (behind the library). Applications and more information can be found at go/lim, or on Facebook at facebook.com/middlim.