We are happy to announce the results of the CIEE story contest. We asked all Spring, Academic Year, and Summer 2004 CIEE Study Center participants to submit their story – a reflection of their international experience. We asked: what did you learn about the local culture, people, yourself? How has it changed your outlook? What would you tell other students thinking of going abroad?
We received many wonderful entries. It was hard to pick the winners! For those who participated, thank you. We greatly enjoyed reading all about your experiences on a CIEE Study Center program.
Congratulations to all!
Overall Winner
Njum Waalo Blues
Gillian Davis, Carleton College
CIEE Senegal Spring 2004
The market on the outskirts of St. Louis buzzes with early morning activity. Thick strips of wood-fired mouton and closely-packed bodies weaving between street corners gives breath to the day’s rising heat. We pass heavy loaves of millet bread and bags of sweet bissap juice in search of longer-lasting utilitarian items. It’s curbside gift shopping, Senegalese-style.
Professor Seck gathers only the essentials: multi-colored wash buckets, a set of morning cups, a crate of packed oranges so bright they could only come from Moroccan trees. He has the needs of a tiny village in mind, and since he is our leader today, our marabout of sorts, we unquestioningly approve of the chosen gifts and pile into the crowded minibus.
We’re headed to the Fulani Village of Njum Waalo in the ancient Fouta Tooro region of Senegal. Prof. Ibrahima Seck’s research on enduring musical ties between Senegambia and the American south during the trans-Atlantic slave trade led him to this village years ago. He believes the stringed gourd instruments played historically in Njum Waalo gave rise to what Americans now term southern blues. Today, Prof. Seck will unveil to us, his students, the fusion of his formal research, passion for music, and a village of friends.
Read Gillian's entire story...
2nd Place Winner
My Story
Anna Christine Reidy, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Sevilla Summer 2004
My señora said many things to me during my stay in Sevilla, most of which I didn’t understand. But among all the opinions, witticisms, tongue-twisters, and other sundry bits of Spanish wisdom, one stood out: “El tiempo somos nosotros. Tal como seamos será nuestro tiempo.”
When I arrived in Spain I did not understand this, either grammatically or conceptually. Since I was a pianist, with an obsession for all things pre-twentieth century, I was accustomed to feeling like a marginalized foreigner who couldn’t understand the local idiom, and as a result I never expected life to hand me anything more than the key to a practice room door. I tended to avoid social settings and withdrew from close contact with other people in the belief that real, inter-personal communication was essentially impossible. Coming to Spain, I did not anticipate anything different. If I felt like a foreigner in my own country, there was no reason to think I would feel at home in a foreign country.
Read Anna's entire story...
3rd Place Winner
Nicole Tobin, Indiana University
Guanajuato Summer 2004
My experience as a foreign student in Guanajuato, Mexico was wonderful. I feel that the program greatly helped improve my Spanish language capabilities and my understanding of the Mexican culture, which were my two main goals for my trip. Because I plan to be a teacher, and hopefully a teacher of English as a Second Language, understanding cultures different than my own, understanding the process of second language acquisition and being able to have a basic knowledge of how foreign languages function in comparison to English are all important skills for me to learn. I feel that I accomplished great strides in these areas during my 7 weeks in Mexico.
My language skills were strong before I came, but only in an academic setting. I could discuss assignments, grammar and short readings well, but had a difficult time holding up conversations or understanding Spanish-speakers when they addressed me. Once again, as a teacher, I knew that knowing the colloquial and conversational side of Spanish would help me to reach the (probably) young students that would be in my class. Being functional in the “real” spoken language of the United States’ largest minority group will help me to reach students as friends and peers in language-learning, but also will provide me with relevant comparisons between languages that can help to clarify meanings, differences and similarities for students by giving them a reference point from their own language.
Read Nicole's entire story...
Submit Your Story!
Did you miss the essay contest but want to submit your story for possible inclusion on the website or in our catalogs? Please click here and send it in!