In this last semester of college, I chose to join the International Service Learning Program on a trip to Trinidad and Tobago led by the College of 成人直播鈥檚 Higher 成人直播 Administration and College Student Personnel programs. It was an opportunity that I thought I had missed out on during my undergraduate studies. It seemed like the perfect way to spend my spring break: living and learning in a new country, surrounded by peers and the most beautiful scenery imaginable.

During the first couple of days, I was hit by an onslaught of “firsts:”

• My first international trip.
• My first time on three planes in one day.
• My first time eating lobster
• My first time snorkeling.
• My first time presenting in front of professionals.
• My first sunburn of the summer.

Looking back, I realize that all of these things were so trivial compared to what we went on to experience. We unwittingly were in a front row seat watching a pandemic spread across the world.

COVID-19 was in the United States when we set off on our spring break adventure, but it had not gained traction and travel was not yet restricted. So we trudged ahead.

Our goal was to explore the culture of Trinidad and Tobago and familiarize ourselves with the tertiary system in a new country. As young professionals in the U.S. higher education system, we were eager to exchange knowledge and experience with our Trinidadian peers.

During our first few days, we engaged in roundtable discussions with the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute and the University of the West Indies. However, we were met with a level of caution due to the increasing fear of the virus. Instead of handshakes, we were greeted with polite waves and 鈥渒nocking elbows,鈥� as well as informational sessions on the importance of maintaining distance and rigorous hand washing. In some ways, the lively discussion we expected was hindered by a feeling of uncertainty.

This was in stark contrast to the reception we received at a primary school in the area. The school was affiliated with the orphanage next door in addition to the local community. We came bearing gifts of soccer balls, Cardinal bracelets, stickers, key chains and new books. In return, we were greeted with laughter and hugs. We felt it was much too soon when the kids began dismissing to their homes.

The ride back to the hotel was filled with laughter, exchanging stories of the vibrant children we encountered.

Then, the messages started rolling in. COVID-19 had reached Kentucky, then Louisville. It was unsettling, watching the chaos unfold from so far away. Our little piece of paradise had been tainted by the knowledge of what we would return home to.

Nevertheless, we persisted. We met with students and faculty and listened to their concerns. We focused on “doing more with less.” Their universities were also facing economic struggles and they wanted to provide the best education for their students. We shared with them our experiences in higher education, what events and services had worked, and which hadn鈥檛. They shared with us new ideas to engage our own students. Many of us formed partnerships with our Trinidadian counterparts, making plans to continue assisting them even after returning home.

Meanwhile, the emails from school, work and home kept pouring into our inboxes and it was often overwhelming. What could we do? We were stuck between wanting to return home to our loved ones, and wondering if it was safer that we stay away.

Our fearless leaders simply reminded us that all we could do was wait and listen. And we did. We continued with the activities we had planned, all of which began with a debriefing on the situation as it spread. We were reminded once again, to maintain space, wash your hands, stay safe.

We always knew there was a possibility of being quarantined upon our return but getting the notification that we were prohibited from campus for 14 days still shook many of us. It was suddenly all too real. Glenn Gittings, one of the leaders for our trip, frequently reminded me that our rag-tag team of 11 (seven students and four professors and administrators) was going through this together.

The tension in the air as we landed in Miami, Florida, was high. We were travel weary, hungry, nervous. Where there had once been boisterous conversation, there was now silence and uncertainty. However, something changed as we landed at the Louisville airport. Something familiar and welcoming, despite all the chaos in the world, it still felt like home. I could feel the tension in my shoulders relax, knowing that whatever came next, we would be okay. Even though the trip was over, we were still in this together.

Later, we found out that not long after our return, Trinidad and Tobago began blocking flights in and out of the country. There was a flurry of activity as the nation struggled to gain a grasp on the virus. Only two days before, the universities we had worked with had shut down all activities, resulting in our final session being cut short.

I guess in the end, this trip still was all about my “firsts:”

• Including my first time navigating a pandemic of this scale.
• My first time experiencing real fear and uncertainty about what lies ahead.
• My first time seeing a group of relative strangers turn into family.

And that is what ISLP has done for me. I visited a new country, learning their history and culture. I grew as a professional, participating in some of the most intellectually stimulating conversation in my life. I learned how to have courage in the face of uncertainty. I gained a family of individuals brought together by a shared experience.

Fear did not win out in this experience. Instead, we used education, reasoning and compassion to build on something so profound that I shall never forget it.

And, given the choice, I would do it all over again.

Growing up, I never thought I would get the chance to travel aboard. Mainly due to my parents being the protective types. They weren鈥檛 even keen on me going to the University of Louisville because they believed an hour away was too far from home. Despite this, I chose UofL. I knew it would offer me opportunities that no other university could provide. So when I learned the International Service Learning Program (ISLP), a program created for UofL students to travel aboard and provide services, I immediately applied to go to Croatia. I saw this as my chance to finally expand my horizons.

When I landed in Croatia, I honestly didn鈥檛 know what to expect. My professor Steve Sohn, a ISLP veteran, did tell me and my peers what to expect in Croatia. One of them being how Croatia is smoking country. From adults to teenagers, smoking cigarettes are practically allowed anywhere at any time. This was difficult for me to imagine until we arrived in the first city called Sisak. It was just as my professor said.

As someone who grew up in a nation where smoking is prohibited in many places and has an age restriction, witnessing such a cultural difference definitely threw me for a loop. However, it didn鈥檛 offend me. The point of ISLP is to learn about another culture, and smoking is a part of Croatia鈥檚 society. Seeing such a difference helped me better understand what it鈥檚 like to live in Croatia.

Along with learning about cultural differences, another part of ISLP is to provide services. My group and I were tasked with developing educational activities to teach to Croatian high school students. At first, I was fearful that it would be difficult for us to connect with the Croatian students. We grew up with different cultural backgrounds. I was scared such a boundary would prevent us from getting along. But I couldn鈥檛 have been more wrong.

The Croatian students completely opened up to us. They asked us about our culture, and they were excited to answer our questions, too. Some of the students even invited us out to explore the town, allowing us to get to know them better.听 By our last day of teaching, I had become so close with my students that I got emotional when we said our goodbyes. Luckily, we became friends on social media, so the goodbye wasn鈥檛 final.

After our teaching days, my group and I left Sisak to explore the other cities of Croatia including Zadar, Zaton, Nin and Zagreb. Every place we visited was beautiful, but it was my friends who made the experiences unforgettable. It鈥檚 amazing to me how I didn鈥檛 know anyone at the start of this program, and now some of my favorite moments are goofing around with these wonderful people.

ISLP not only introduced me to another country鈥檚 culture, but it also allowed me to form friendships with individuals whom I may have never met on UofL鈥檚 big campus.听

The ISLP features a multi-disciplinarian gathering of students working to solve a problem in a foreign culture. Past trips have been to Belize, Botswana, Croatia, the Philippines, and Trinidad and Tobago.听

The Peru ISLP trip was established in part through a relationship with the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development. AASD is an organization that puts academics and indigenous cultures together to share and collaborate. The students are working on a water project.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is to figure out what we can reasonably do to help them and what the community can accomplish,鈥� said Thomas Rockaway, professor in the civil and environmental engineering department and director for the Center for Infrastructure Research, who is leading the team.

Michael Keibler and Mary Andrade in Speed’s Co-op and Career Development Office, initiated the trip to increase the number of global opportunities for engineering students. This coincides with the development of a global engineering track for co-op students that launches this fall.听

鈥淭his is truly a community-based service learning experience and immerses our students in Peruvian cultures, lifestyles, and guides them on how to critically think about the engineering aspects of global problem-framing and solving,鈥� said Keibler. 鈥淲e are excited about the collaborative effort with the AASD and look to continue to build on the community relationship, and ISLP relationship, for many years to come.鈥�

For Mechanical Engineering junior Melanie Babin, the ISLP offered an opportunity to help in less developed areas to find sustainable, long-term solutions to environmental and technological issues.听

鈥淚 believe that technology can improve the quality of life without obscuring traditions and harming the environment,” she said.

Chemical Engineering junior Peyton Paulson said she was optimistic that her team could find a solution that not only satisfies the problem now, but that is modular for the next group to work in the community.

鈥淯pon arriving, we hope to conduct interviews to help further our assessment of the situation,鈥� said Paulson. 鈥淲e want to know all aspects of the problem before truly forming a 鈥榮olution.鈥� We want our work to be long lasting and impactful. Whatever solution we outline or implement, we want locals to be happy and eager to maintain it.鈥�

The students and faculty members left July 29 and are set to return August 16.

Students from criminal justice, engineering, law and communications divided into four groups that presented curriculum at four secondary schools.听The topics varied from the dangers of online bullying and how water filtration works to building a solar oven to the International Declaration of Human Rights.

Another听14 third- and fourth-year dental students treated 172 patients during four days of service.听

Many students, like听Georgia Connally, a third-year law student graduating this spring, described the experience as life-altering.

In the , she wrote about her experience at a Taoist Temple.

“I placed my incense in the vase and dropped the stones asking the spirits only ‘Will I find a fulfilling life?’ As they hit the floor, I could feel the silence erupt around me. The echo of the stones contacting the floor resonated in the walls of the temple. Before me, a red, tangled dragon holding a gong quivered with the noise on the alter. The monk approached me. ‘Maybe,’ he said and smiled.”

She writes about being emersed in Cebu throughout the next four days, and meeting a little girl, whose obvious poverty drew tears to her eyes.听

“She welcomed me to Paril National High School and told me how much she loved her community, her school and me. In that moment I realized I didn鈥檛 know anything about happiness, or a fulfilling life. And I was not done learning.”

Connally detailed how she learned as much from the students as they learned from her,

maybe even more:

“From the outside looking in, it seemed like we, as Americans, had the better life. We have iPhones, indoor plumbing and electricity. But what we lack, they have in abundance: happiness and fulfillment. During a private interview with three students, I learned what these children understand, how they feel, about Cebu. We asked the students ‘If you could change one thing about Cebu, what would it be?’ They all responded ‘Nothing.’ I was stunned by their response. I wondered why they loved their home so much when they were so aware of the poverty and other issues. I asked them why. One student responded ‘It is my home, these people are my family. We help each other, and are always there for each other. I love it here. It has been good to me and my family. I may leave one day, but I will return, to continue to help my community.’ Again, I was speechless. I wondered how many Americans would say the same thing.”听

to read more or Connally’s experience in Cebu.

The group also painted the exterior of a local kindergarten and explored Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes, Jasenovac Concentration Camp, Cigoc stork village, and Vinarija Florijanovic Winery.

Mechanical Engineering professor Dr. Ellen Brehob serves as the academic representative of the Speed School for Croatia, a country situated in Eastern Europe near the Adriatic Sea. With two decades of service under her belt, Brehob sees the program first and foremost as immersion in to new experiences.

鈥淚 think that Croatia is different because it鈥檚 not a third world country. They have good food, good teeth. The program is a little different. I think you go because you want to do something good. But it鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e going to give them good drinking water, it鈥檚 more a cultural exchange,鈥� Brehob said.

The Croatian program is relatively new, having developed within approximately the last six years. A former Communist state, Croatia endured a grueling civil war in the early 1990s, from which it has since recovered. That was part of the discussion as the Croatia program developed.

鈥淲hat they wanted was conflict resolution and how to keep peace, and we haven鈥檛 really met that,” Brehob said.听

As part of the multi-disciplinary program, engineering students work along with communications and nursing students to help assemble a program that they can take to Croatian high school students.

鈥淥ur students get to talk with high school students (about) what it鈥檚 like to live in Croatia, what are their lives like. The Croatian students are really intrigued by Americans. They like talking to UofL students,” Brehob said.听

Brehob hopes that the students walk away with a fresh perspective on the chances that they are afforded in the United States. Croatian students are often short on career options, and Brehob reports that a majority seek to move out of the country to find employment. Still, she has had a great experience in Croatia and believes that her students have benefited as well.

鈥淚 love that in Croatia, they have a real sense of family. They don鈥檛 have as much money, but they have a happy, comfortable life,” Brehob said.

The full story about Brehob’s experience is available on the J.B. Speed School of Engineering .听

Last week, more than 30 ISLP students departed for a service trip to Belize.

While ISLP has visited several countries throughout听the years, Belize is the original and the longest-running service trip. ISLP is an interdisciplinary program includes an intense focus on community service.

鈥淚SLP exposes students to the world by immersing them into the local community through service learning and engaging experiences,鈥� said ISLP program coordinator Nicole Rosskopf, who is also a participant on the trip. 鈥淭his new perspective gives our students a better understanding of people and cultures around the world.鈥�

While in Belize, 32 students will staff a dental clinic and will teach students in local schools. The students and faculty are from a variety of disciplines including nursing, law, dental, communication and criminal justice. Lesson plans will cover crime prevention, personal safety, dental hygiene, setting and achieving goals and STD and pregnancy prevention.

A few dental students will be working in the school, while the majority will be working in the dental clinic providing services for the community. Non-dental students will also be working in the clinic providing office assistance.

However, the trip won鈥檛 be all work. While in Belize, the students will visit the Lamanai Mayan Cultural Site and the Belize Zoo, as well as explore South Water Caye on an island expedition.

The students are blogging about their experiences. .听

The ISLP is designed to encourage students to learn and serve in other countries. Since 1997 there have been 38 trips to destinations such as Belize, Botswana, Croatia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The students typically spend their time on the trip teaching and providing much-needed services to underserved areas and populations. The December trip to the Philippines will focus on providing dental care and teaching high school students.

Here are 5 things to learn about听UofL鈥檚 ISLP:

1. ISLP鈥檚 first trip was to Barbados in 1997.

2. It will take the UofL team roughly 24 hours of travel time as they make their way from Louisville to Cebu.

3. The nine School of Dentistry students who are going to the Philippines will run a dental clinic that is expected to serve more than 100 Filipinos.

4. Other students going on the trip will help in the clinic and spend 8-hour days in the classroom teaching 100 scholars from three area schools.

5. The students and faculty will also take time out for fun. They will go snorkeling and shopping and visit local landmarks including Magellan鈥檚 Cross.

For more on the ISPL, check out their .

Dr. Lesley Harris, Kent School鈥檚 Gerontology specialization coordinator and an associate professor, was one of a team of faculty members from multiple disciplines that lead the trip.

鈥淪ome of my most enjoyable moments throughout the trip were being able to live with the students and connect in a way that is difficult to do inside a traditional classroom environment. I learned that several of our students had never left the United States before, or had never been on a plane before, which expanded my role into more of a support person when problems arose in our journey,鈥� Harris said.

While in Botswana, students worked in three different schools. Two of the locations were in urban Gaborone (Nanogang and Maoka Junior Secondary Schools), and the other was located in a rural town (Molepolole Junior Secondary School). Students worked in interdisciplinary teams, which included students and faculty from engineering, sports administration, public health and geography.

鈥淔or a social worker it is always important to be open minded and to broaden your horizons. Going to Botswana helped me to understand different cultures better and to see something completely different. Teaching the kids and interacting with them was an experience which will be useful for my future social work practice,鈥� said Theresia Pachner, MSSW, Fulbright Scholar from Germany, and a May graduate.听

According to Harris, academic service learning places equal emphasis on three outcomes: student learning, service to the community and the development of collaborative and mutually respectful relationships between students and community members with whom they are engaged.

The goals of the ISLP course were听to familiarize students with the intersection of service learning and social work values, explore varying perceptions of social work, focus听on youth perspectives in an international context, and learn how to develop effective and culturally-appropriate social work programming and materials.

In particular, Kent鈥檚 students spent the semester researching a topic, which was given to them by the schools in Botswana. The schools鈥� administration selected the topic of anti-bullying, so students designed an educational program on the topic and lead the program, in partnership with community hosts, at the schools on bystander interventions.

鈥淭his trip has greatly impacted my social work education and practice by allowing myself to grow my culture competence. My experiences have also solidified my passion for the social work discipline and I loved being able to share what I do and why with the students,鈥� said Katie Lutrell, MSSW student, Advanced Standing Program, Gerontology specialization.

Dr. Leonard’s project focuses on the social and cognitive development of children and adults from communities transitioning from political/sectarian violence. Students experienced听first-hand how combining multicultural peace studies and social/cognitive research through cross-community engagement influences the psychosocial elements of 鈥減eace building鈥� (i.e., in-group identification, intergroup forgiveness and trust, and mental health and well-being) and enhances personal, family, community relations, and multicultural understanding.

Students on the trip were exposed to the applicable theories of intergroup contact, conflict transformation, peace psychology, and empirical research and history specific to 鈥淭he Troubles鈥� between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

These students spent the spring term being trained in and developing a trust-building workshop that resulted from Dr. Leonard鈥檚 10 years of research in Northern Ireland. While abroad (May 7-20), the group traveled throughout Northern Ireland and conducted workshops with adolescents participating in the Ulster Project, a cross-community organization between Northern Ireland and the USA which is designed to bring Catholic and Protestant adolescents together in an effort to reduce prejudice, enhance forgiveness, trust, and empathy, and cultivate the 1998 鈥減eace process.鈥�

UofL students on the trip included:听

• Jenna Conway
• Katie Dick
• Anna Kelecy
• Todd Lucas
• Arielle McGannon
• Jessica Sproles
• Ashley Swope
• Morgan Wells

The primary goal of the annual trip is for education students to take what they have learned in their field and course work and implement it in a diverse and unfamiliar setting. Not only does this help instill cultural responsiveness skills in students, it also lets them act as models for the Belizean teachers to provide informal professional development in the underprivileged schools.

Every day, the CEHD students and their advisers piled into a van and rattled down miles of dirt road to get to the modest听schools听where听they were greeted by 500听pupils excited to learn from them. They especially relished the luxurious teaching tools they brought, such as counting blocks and plastic clocks.

鈥淭his trip greatly impacted my teaching. I look at it in a whole new way,鈥� said Bridget Donoghue, a student on the trip. 鈥淚 learned that a really cool aspect is the relationship-building among the students 鈥� I鈥檓 not just here to teach you and tell you what to do, I can learn from the students, too.鈥�

One of the things UofL students had to learn was how to think on their feet. They experienced a minor crisis when they found their classes much more advanced in some areas than they expected, throwing months of carefully-laid lesson plans out the window. With guidance from faculty advisers and Belizean teachers, the students were able to develop a new plan in short order that addressed their classes鈥� unique needs.

When they weren鈥檛 teaching classes, CEHD students spent time touring their host villages and meeting their residents, taking excursions to Guatemala, snorkeling in the Caribbean Sea or just splashing in the local waterfall. But for everyone involved, the best part of the trip was the teaching itself.

鈥淲e came expecting to change them, as far as instruction, but what happened was that many of us were changed and humbled by them,鈥� said John Finch, a faculty adviser on the trip.

Another CEHD International Learning trip departed for Ireland May 20, where students听will remain for a week and a half as they take classes on art therapy and comparative education and work with professionals in their areas of interest.