Service through Leadership, Social Change, and Humility: Trinidad y Tobago

My trip to Trinidad was awesome! We started the day with a historic city tour of Trinidad, toured the exciting Savannah Park, and ended the day with a powerful interactive learning experience at the St. Joseph’s Convent School. During our time at the school, Semester at Sea students exchanged oral narratives about U.S. culture, ethnography, and Trinidad’s global relevance.

Immediately following the cultural exchange, the St. Joseph’s students gave a 30-minute presentation surrounding their culture, history, and environmental sensitivity to the current issues outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/).

The next day in Trinidad marked an important spiritual milestone for me –as I visited the monastery and saw one of the monks on site. The serene, peaceful, and spiritually invigorating feeling I felt at the monastery was refreshing to say the least. The two days spent in Trinidad were well worth enduring the humidity, overwhelming temperatures, and revolving threat of violence in unpopular neighborhoods. Next stop, Panama!

Setting Sail on a New Adventure

It’s difficult to conceptualize the past 2 days –as they have been some of the most energetic, exhausting, and refreshing experiences yet. I am eager to meet the new students who arrive tomorrow (5/20/2011). Rumors suggest that we are expecting a very large class of students, roughly 450+. As a result, we (the phenomenal Living Learning Coordinating team) are charged with providing a safe, collaborative, and engaging co-curricular environment for students through programming. Although this is my first Semester at Sea Voyage, I expect it to be rather interesting in how “we” (as a staff) engage students and create attractive co-curricular programs.

Beyond my positive apprehension about tomorrow, I am anticipating what “ship life" will be like. The only memories and superficial narratives I have regarding “ship life” are those of the Navy and subsequent cinematic classics that highlighted what it was like to live on the ocean. In terms of the itinerary, today’s sessions were covered with various leadership training modules, orientation planning, and a wonderful talk by Dr. Rosalyn Berne (in a Socratic fashion), regarding ethics, morals, and how we judge what’s right and wrong.

Dr. Berne’s concluding remarks interpreted morals and ethics as very complex and nuanced ideas. However, for me, one thing I can be assure of is that so far, I have made the right decision in deciding to attend Semester at Sea. Until next time, ciao!

P.S. the photographic images are forthcoming. Since we're still sailing and have not docked as of yet, I have to wait until I can access reliable bandwidth for my uploading capability.

A Farewell Letter: Goodbye and Hello

With less than 24-hours away from check-in, I am a bit nervous, anxious, excited, and overwhelmed (in a good way). My summer 2011 plans will mark another consecutive summer of international travel, exploration, and substantial inquiry. I am approaching my trip this summer in a different manner, whereby, I'm entering unexplored space and undiscovered territory as a rising scholar (i.e. Graduate Student), social justice advocate, cultural consumer, and critical observer.

It's amazing to think about my personal prayers that spoke to an experience as such, where I could affect positive change through proactive engagement on the international stage. 2-years later, I am able to do just that! Wow, "incredible" is the most appropriate foreshadowing term for what's to come in the next few months.

My journey this summer will not be in vain. I will use my lens to extrapolate useful rhetoric, strategies, skills, and tools from other countries in order to help advance my egalitarian mission of contributing to the elimination of the social ills that plague many U.S. communities. With that said, I end my first post with a compelling quote I discovered prior to the creation of this blog. It's only appropriate that I share the textual gem..."The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" (Marcel Proust).

Friends, colleagues, family, and those who I may not formally know, I invite you to vicariously explore, appreciate, and embrace the concept of new ideas that influence our conventional ways of thinking. To that end, stay blessed and look forward to a refreshing perspective and unique interpretation from yours truly.

-T. Range