After an intense exchange between Bob “Showdown” Marrs and a chipper Sodexho employee, the meeting begins...sort of. Well, we begin waiting for the meeting to begin. Marie and Ezra embark on a discussion of “man pockets.” Ezra says, “They’re glorious!”
Turns out the real meeting is happening next door with the college accreditation committee, so we spend a while milling between the two rooms, leaving the committee clearly impressed with Coe’s student turn out. Whoo-hoo.
We re-gather, meeting begins. What Bob finds disturbing: Bob Drexler and John Chaimov are absent. Just as we’re about to give up hope, Drex saunters in to a round of applause. He’s here to talk about Spring Semester in Asia, which happens every spring and is “hosted” by various Coe professors. This year it’s John Chaimov, who’s focusing the semester around issues of human rights and environmental issues in Asia.
The rundown on Asia Term:
-10 weeks in Thailand , 3 in Cambodia, 2 in Vietnam, with a trip to Laos.
-While on the term you complete an independent project (examples: cooking, political science, volunteering, art, research project) which can usually be parlayed into counting toward your major.
-Four credits. Counts toward your “off-campus internship special thing”
-It’s a Coe program, so you pay Coe tuition, plus a $1500 fee to cover various expenses. This is a really good deal
-There will be an official informational meeting in ~ 2 weeks
-Contact Bob Drexler or John Chaimov for more information, or to add your name to the “master list.”
-See Ed. professor Terry McNabb’s blog from last year to get a better idea of the term: http://terryinthailand.blogspot.com/
-The CWC has several Asia Term alumni: Andy Decker, Ezra Stewart-Silver, Johanna Schnell, Kyle Mangan, Dave Woehrle...I’m not forgetting anyone? Andy became a monk – it was enlightening. Johanna did something for which she didn’t receive polisci credit. Ezra made a lot of curry.
-Everyone is eligible to go (except me, clearly), including freshmen and seniors. If you’re interested, you probably should do it.
Bob says: “Never let your schooling interfere with your education. Your major just doesn’t make a difference. The best thing about Coe is leaving – CR is an okay town, but leave.” This is sage advice. In summary, the reason people go to liberal arts schools...so we can go on to graduate studies in other stuff.
-Major + GPA = 2 lines on your resume. They skip over that stuff when applying for jobs. What’s important is what else you do. Apparently more Coe students study abroad than do all University of Iowa undergrads. Also, most Coe people graduate in four years, while only 28% graduate after four years from Iowa. “We can consistently kick ass.” True, true.
-So...go off-campus. In the next couple of weeks we’ll be putting together some information in the WC and on the blog about where WCers have studied in recent years and who you can contact for personal testimonies/opinions about study abroad. As Bob notes, after you graduate to the real world you’ll probably never have the opportunity to take four months off and go explore SE Asia. Unless you’re a college professor, that is.
Other news: Good job, tea committee, at the Reeve reception. It was very nice and Bob is proud of you.
Also, the Marrs family Dickinson-orama in Sinclair last Saturday was great fun – ask Bob for a copy of the powerpoint if you want. He might even break into a rendetion of “Because I could not stop for Death” to the tune of “Amazing Grace.”
There are still a few extra WC keys available for rent. Give Bob a $10 deposit in exchange for a shiny new key opening the door to the happiest place on campus.
Next week: Committee meetings. If you don’t know what committee you’re on, check in the clipboard in the WC or ask Bob.
--Jenna
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