What a trip! I was able to attend an Elon Study Abroad trip across the pond to learn about some of the great composers. This was a three week trip with stops in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. We studied Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Bartok. We attended a few operas, a chamber music concert, and listened to a 90 piece orchestra (outstanding). I attend as a staff member, one of the many perks working for Elon University and higher education.
The trip started back in the fall with a weekly course to get everyone introduced to the composers. The students were required to write a few papers during the course but luckily for me, I didn’t have to do all the course work. We had a few lessons on the German language and some of the cultural difference with the United States.
As the course started, I was known as Photographer Doug. My goal was to document the trip with photos of the group interacting with the guides and various locations we visited. This was the reason I hauled all my photography gear over with my laptop. This allowed me to process daily photos and get them posted to my photo site. The benefit of this was some of the students linked to my photos within some of the blog posts that were required during the trip. I received some great feedback on the photos and it motivated me to take more shots throughout the trip. By the third week though, I was definitely ready to take a break from the camera.
When I wasn’t behind the camera, I was known as Student Doug. I attended all the events that the students were attending. The goal of Elon’s Study Abroad program is to create global leaders for our students. I wanted to immerse myself within the class and take advantage of what the class had to offer. It is not every day you get to sit through a 5 hour Richard Wagner opera in Vienna, Austria. The chance to walk through Beethoven’s living quarters and Mozart’s birth house gives you a different perspective on classical music and the history in Europe.
The part of the course I was not expecting was the interactions with the students and the professors. There were 23 students in the course along with two professors. I was happy that the course consisted of some classroom work before we all hopped on a plane together. This gave all of us a chance to get to know each other a bit. It was one thing to talk during class, but once you step on a plane, train, or bus with 26 other people for 3 weeks, you really get to know everyone.
Matt Buckmaster and Andrea Sinn really made me feel comfortable during the class and trip. Because of my love of photography, I even did a little presentation on mobile phone photography tips and tricks for the students. Matt and Andrea approached the course from two different angles and it really worked great. Matt was the music side of the team and Andrea brought the history lessons.
It took me a few days to get comfortable with the students. I’m an introvert at heart, but all it took was a dinner invite from a group of students and I was back in college again, can you say Old School! It was great exchanging stories with them outside of the traditional classroom. I graduated from App State in 1993 so college is not fresh in my mind. With my job at Elon, I don’t get the opportunity to interact with students, so this was an excellent opportunity to understand Elon students better. It was great being able to toast over beers and talk about what it is like to be a college student at Elon.
It took me a few days to get comfortable with the students. I’m an introvert at heart, but all it took was a dinner invite from a group of students and I was back in college again, can you say Old School! It was great exchanging stories with them outside of the traditional classroom. I graduated from App State in 1993 so college is not fresh in my mind. With my job at Elon, I don’t get the opportunity to interact with students, so this was an excellent opportunity to understand Elon students better. It was great being able to toast over beers and talk about what it is like to be a college student at Elon.
One of the highlights was learning about Darties, a.k.a. Day Parties, from the students. These are held on Saturday afternoon mostly at off-campus housing. I’ve been experimenting with BBQ catering and we talked about the plentiful opportunities to sell some BBQ during these parties. This is one of my goals for spring before some of the student on this trip graduate.
I’m now a raving fan for the global learning opportunities for staff members at Elon. 6 staff members are selected each year to accompany classes around the world. The application is simple and the chances to be selected from a random drawing are very high. Here is a video produced to promote the program for staff members.
I’ll never forgot this trip and the friendships made.