Sophomore Raamis Khwaja researched urban policy and water quality in northern India this summer. (Courtesy of Raamis Khwaja )
Many students started off the new school year by paying a friendly visit to the SMU bookstore, visiting some of the local restaurants they’ve been missing all summer or possibly reestablishing their morning workout at Dedman Life Center.
Others, however, spent their time prepping for school by ordering their passport, packing their bags and jetting across the globe.
Those who choose to travel abroad this semester will leave the comfort of SMU and Dallas behind, in search of new and exciting places.
This summer, students went to locations ranging from the tea gardens of Bangladesh to the overcrowded hospitals of Vietnam to the slums of India.
One outlet that is helping to keep track of their adventures is the SMU Adventures Blog.
The SMU Adventure Blog features everything from a photo of the week sent in by traveling students, to personal blogs from students.
“My experience on Semester at Sea was completely different than being here at SMU,” said Senior Sarah McCurdy who studied abroad in Fall 2011. “It is difficult to explain what your life is like there unless you keep track of it with pictures and stories, this would be a great way to do that.”
Students like McCurdy could share photos, experiences and inform everyone back in Dallas about their daily life in another country on the blog.
The blog also features information from SMU’s school in Taos, as well as both summer, semester and yearlong programs.
It follows students who have crossed state lines and are doing work or studying in different areas of the country, such as Washington D.C., and Little Rock, Arkansas.
It also gives traveling students a chance to blog about issues facing the countries they are visiting and is an outlet for students to voice their passions about global problems: poverty, water security, a lack of access to financial capital, healthcare deficits and famine.
Sophomore Raamis Khwaja studied abroad in India and kept track of his experience studying child psychology and water contamination in his own blog.
“I choose to blog because it’s personal and a good way to network with others,” Khwaja said. “I wrote about the dismal conditions of the water, which will result in the city becoming inhabitable eventually.”
A pair of students, Fantine Giap and Janice Kim, traveled to Vietnam to study health literacy and efficacy as Richter Fellows.
As SMU students followed their peers, they picked up on unique perspectives.
“The most important thing that I took away is how another country’s healthcare runs outside of the United States,” Kim, a biological sciences major, said.
“To see what a developing country is like and to see the technological levels in another country, it was an eye opening experience”
The blog also offered SMU students the opportunity to learn about different nations.
“We went to many Buddhist temples, and it was amazing to see monumental statues. We were on a mountain – far away from a large statue - and could see it from a distance. It was beautiful,” Kim said.
Whether blogging about critical issues such as sustainable energy or simply relaying the passing of one’s day in a foreign country, students and faculty alike who are part of the site blog from all around the world. While students back in Dallas get to be a part of their journey by reading along at http://blog.smu.edu/studentadventures.
“It was great to follow the summer adventures of all my friends. It really encouraged me to study abroad for next summer,” sophomore Mehdi Hami, said.
