Summer break can be a time to relax, have fun and enjoy a long break from school. But for some, it’s a time to travel.
Some will be traveling just for the fun of it, but others will be studying abroad. Brittnie Knight, a Gannon University theater and communication arts major, will be venturing to study at Richmond, the American International University in London.
Knight said that she always wanted to go abroad and study. Going to the Fringe Festival brought that idea back to her and got her to thinking about where and what she would study if she went abroad. She said she’s always wanted to go to London and study theater, so she found a way through the American Institute for Foreign Study.
“Words cannot describe my excitement,” Knight said. “Is it May 18 yet?”
Knight will be in London for nine weeks over the summer taking classes such as Script Writing and Shakespeare and His Writings. She’s looking forward to getting to know others who love theater and having an experience to write about. Also while she’s there, she’ll be spending weekends in Italy and Paris and going to a three-day music festival called Tea in the Park in Scotland.
Knight said that Chris Vilevac, associate director of the International Student Ofice, is providing many more opportunities for students to study abroad. “I would advise anyone to go abroad,” Knight said. “Take advantage of the opportunity and go ask questions.”
While some are leaving the country, other people will be traveling within the United States. Allison Kessler, a theater and communication arts major, is going to Ferrum, Virginia to work for the Blue Ridge Dinner Theater.
Kessler found out about this opportunity when she was looking for summer stock.
The Rev. Shawn Clerkin informed her about Ohio Alliance where there were more than 30 different theater companies looking to hire. She got a call back from Blue Ridge Dinner Theater and had to audition separately for them to get the job.
“This job offer,” Kessler said, “has given me hope that I will possibly be able to get a job somewhere else if I want one.”
While in Virginia, Kessler will be performing in the evening and rehearsing and helping out with a theater camp during the day.
On the weekends she will be traveling with the theater to different fairs to sing and perform skits.
Kessler said she’s a bit anxious because she will be nine hours away from where she lives and it will be different not to know how things work at Blue Ridge Dinner Theater.
She’s also looking forward to meeting new people and acquiring some experience in professional work.
Students aren’t the only people who can travel though.
Dr. Douglas King, an associate professor of English and the acting associate dean of Gannon’s College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences – CHESS – will be taking a group of students to visit London, Paris, Florence and Rome.
Dr. King said that this trip will be an interesting one because the group he’s taking will be going to three major European capitals.
He’s specifically looking forward to going to London because, even though he’s taught Shakespeare, he’s never been to London.
Dr. King said he enjoys taking students on trips because it gives them an opportunity to experience the world.
He said that on one of his trips a student wasn’t having a great day, but thought, “Why am I complaining? I’m in freaking Greece.”
His main interest stems from the idea that going to another country is a life-changing experience. The 10-day trips he usually takes operate as a sampler to plant an interest in going back to that country someday.
In 2013, Dr. King will be taking two more trips, one to France over Spring Break and one to Japan in May.
“I have developed a Leadership Seminar in conjunction with these 2013 trips,” King said.
If you are interested in going on one of these trips, email Dr. King at [email protected], or visit him in the CHESS office on the second floor of Palumbo.
