Tomorrow morning at 3:30 am, my phone alarm will go off, beginning
a marathon of flights that will eventually lead me to Brussels,
Belgium. At the moment, I’m a swirly mix of different emotions. I’m
ready to leave, and I’m excited to be there. However, I’m also cranky
from the previous nights of studying caused by dreaded final exams, and
I’m both nervous and anxious to experience a totally new culture and
society.
My original reason for attending this study abroad experience was so that I could help spread sustainable practices all over the world. As a computer engineering major, my degree field doesn’t necessarily align with sustainability, nature, or man’s impact on Earth. Despite that, I am on a mission to unite my degree and my love for nature and the outdoors so that perhaps I can make a difference with respect to how our societies affect the planet and the other creatures that call this pale, blue dot home.
I think that the lectures and excursions on sustainable energy practices might be most useful for me, as I hope that my degree might relate with those topics the most. Even though some of the lectures we will hear might not be suited for any sort of obvious computer engineering application, I am sure I will constantly be pondering how my degree could be useful for or relate to each topic. I fully expect every sustainability topic that we will cover in Ghent to captivate me, and this is not just because I love nature. The United States is (embarrassingly) years behind its European counterparts in the European Union as far as sustainable practices and a sustainable society are concerned.
For that, I am NOT proud to be an American, but don’t misunderstand me. I’m fortunate and happy to call the United States my birthplace and home. For many reasons, in fact, I am very proud to be an American, but this nation’s carelessness about over consumption (in all areas of our society) is NOT one of those reasons. It appalls me that an entire major political party of the United States can deny the existence of climate change outright and without giving a second thought to the sustainable progress being hindered by their ignorance.
On a different note (and attempting to hold off the crankiness brought forth by the previous paragraph), I am thrilled to be in a country so culturally different from the United States while still remaining in a Western nation. Last summer, I attending a study abroad program to Tanzania in Africa, and while I had a truly life altering experience there, I didn’t connect with the people as much as I would have liked. I made a couple of friends as we traveled across the Tanzania, but communication wasn’t the easiest. Also, the cultural difference between myself and the friends I met there was exponential compared to the differences between U.S. culture and Belgian culture. I hope that the people I meet while abroad the next few weeks can not only become far away friends of mine, but I hope that I can communicate well with them and relate with them so that I can better understand their culture and the life that they live.
I want to immerse myself in Belgian culture not only with the intent to understand it, but to gain travel experience in Europe so that I can feel comfortable visiting Belgium and other European countries in the future. During my lifetime, I want to experience as many different cultures and see as many different vistas as I am physically able. Starting tomorrow, I begin continent number three and country number four on a list that’s (hopefully) not even close to being done.
--
Read more from Mark at https://wanderinghogblog.wordpress.com/blog/
To find out more about the U of A Faculty-Led: European Agriculture-Food Chain Sustainability program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/SUSTEurozone/
My original reason for attending this study abroad experience was so that I could help spread sustainable practices all over the world. As a computer engineering major, my degree field doesn’t necessarily align with sustainability, nature, or man’s impact on Earth. Despite that, I am on a mission to unite my degree and my love for nature and the outdoors so that perhaps I can make a difference with respect to how our societies affect the planet and the other creatures that call this pale, blue dot home.
I think that the lectures and excursions on sustainable energy practices might be most useful for me, as I hope that my degree might relate with those topics the most. Even though some of the lectures we will hear might not be suited for any sort of obvious computer engineering application, I am sure I will constantly be pondering how my degree could be useful for or relate to each topic. I fully expect every sustainability topic that we will cover in Ghent to captivate me, and this is not just because I love nature. The United States is (embarrassingly) years behind its European counterparts in the European Union as far as sustainable practices and a sustainable society are concerned.
For that, I am NOT proud to be an American, but don’t misunderstand me. I’m fortunate and happy to call the United States my birthplace and home. For many reasons, in fact, I am very proud to be an American, but this nation’s carelessness about over consumption (in all areas of our society) is NOT one of those reasons. It appalls me that an entire major political party of the United States can deny the existence of climate change outright and without giving a second thought to the sustainable progress being hindered by their ignorance.
On a different note (and attempting to hold off the crankiness brought forth by the previous paragraph), I am thrilled to be in a country so culturally different from the United States while still remaining in a Western nation. Last summer, I attending a study abroad program to Tanzania in Africa, and while I had a truly life altering experience there, I didn’t connect with the people as much as I would have liked. I made a couple of friends as we traveled across the Tanzania, but communication wasn’t the easiest. Also, the cultural difference between myself and the friends I met there was exponential compared to the differences between U.S. culture and Belgian culture. I hope that the people I meet while abroad the next few weeks can not only become far away friends of mine, but I hope that I can communicate well with them and relate with them so that I can better understand their culture and the life that they live.
I want to immerse myself in Belgian culture not only with the intent to understand it, but to gain travel experience in Europe so that I can feel comfortable visiting Belgium and other European countries in the future. During my lifetime, I want to experience as many different cultures and see as many different vistas as I am physically able. Starting tomorrow, I begin continent number three and country number four on a list that’s (hopefully) not even close to being done.
--
Read more from Mark at https://wanderinghogblog.wordpress.com/blog/
To find out more about the U of A Faculty-Led: European Agriculture-Food Chain Sustainability program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/SUSTEurozone/
