When I chose to visit Washington
& Jefferson college as a high school junior, I had not heard much about
this small liberal arts college. In fact, the only reason I knew it existed is
because it had aggressively attempted to recruit my brother into its ranks, and
tried to lure Dylan in with the highest Dean’s Award scholarship they could
offer. Obviously, their attempts failed to seduce him, but it is what put this
college on my family’s map. I was interested in the idea that the school was relatively
local (“far enough to prevent a surprise visit but close enough for your
parents to run you down something if you need it” as one of the admissions
officers put it) and had small class sizes. One of my great fears of going to a
large school like Pitt or Penn State was being in one of those auditorium-style
classrooms in which I would be taught by some TA. I did not want to be reduced
to a number in the crowd, and the classrooms that looked almost identical in
size to that of my high school appealed to me.
During one the admissions events, I asked my mother to take me to
W&J to check it out. Considering how much she hated both the city and trip
to Cleveland where my brother currently went, she was all too happy to oblige
the fantasy of me going to a school a mere forty minutes away. While we were
there, in the Media Room, they had a presentation on some of the unique
opportunities available at the college. While they did the usual assortment of
propaganda about study abroad opportunities and talked about their list of majors,
they began to introduce the unique
program of W&J: the Magellan Project. They brought in a couple students who
told us about their trips. The trips they planned, the trips that were born
solely from their own interest, and even to this day I remember the exact trip
of one of the student presenting during that event. He had gone to the Vatican
the summer prior to study the Catholic Church’s hierarchy and had been there
for the historic moment of Pope Benedict XVI abdication of the papal throne. I immediately
turned to my mother and told her that I would love to do that. I had never left
the country before, and a college was essentially offering me a blank check to
go wherever I wanted so long as I put in effort. Since I was thirteen or
fourteen, I had said my dream was to go to the island nation of Malta sometime
before I die. I know that sounds morbid, but it was more of a joke than the nihilistic
tone is sounds like in retrospect. They had a reputation for business, a major
in history, were a top producer of lawyers and doctors, and were willing to help me fulfill my dreams – W&J did succeed
in seducing me. Also, the generous scholarship helped cement my first choice,
but the Magellan Project is what pushed this college into my primary choice.
Three years have passed since my “that sounds so cool that they
have a program like that” and I have had three phenomenal Magellan Projects since.
W&J has already gifted me a life goal of visiting Malta, a trip that will
never be matched. The enthusiasm, nervousness, and sense of accomplishment at
its conclusion made my first Magellan trip my best experience to date. After that
trip, I knew that this was an incredible opportunity and I patted my own back
aplenty for not allowing this opportunity to pass by. Now a Magellan veteran, I
knew that I had to convince others to take the plunge of international travel
and exploration with me. After the first time, I was also resolute to become a
three-time Magellanite to maximize this fleeting moment of unlimited potential.
Year two, after I suggested my roommate take an art history course
with me, he ended up loving it and excelled in the class (constantly edging out
my exam grades by a few points to my competitive chagrin), I asked if he would
consider doing a Magellan Project with me. The class focused a lot on early
Dutch art and the Dutch Golden Age of Art at the beginning of the course, and
that turned out to be his favorite of the art styles. Personally, I was
lobbying to head for Spain to see the Moorish architecture of the south and see
some of its castles. After a series of discussions, I suggested maybe Amsterdam
would be an option. Quickly his apprehensive excitement grew greater to see and
study Dutch art and its relation to Medicine (as many pieces of art depicted
dissections, anatomy, and different doctors), and I figured it would be a great
place to study religious tolerance and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands
during WWII. Another trip, another unforgettable experience. Having my best
friend to travel and explore with was amazing, and I got to test my skills I
learned the previous year by taking care of most of the budgeting and pre-trip
planning. I found the plane, the hotel, and was much more confident about
traveling in general thanks to my solo excursion the year before. I have
already fulfilled one part of the Magellan’s goals: inspiring others to do the
same. We still occasionally talk about how much we enjoyed that trip, and how he
was glad to explore Europe, a luxury that a majority of college students and
many adults cannot afford.
In my final year of Magellan Project eligibility, I decided to stay
somewhat local while exploring a foreign country. My most recent and sadly my
last Magellan Project took place in Montreal, Canada. Even with two trips under
my belt, I still wanted to try new things. Instead of a hostel or hotel, this
time I opted to see what Airbnb was like. Instead of taking a plane (which I
absolutely had to in the previous two trips), I wanted to try taking a bus to
Montreal. I would not suggest taking a bus instead of a plane, but I will say
the conversation I had with a Chinese national about his country and culture
was as interesting as it was surprising. I also had a long conversation with a
man from Indianapolis named Eric who helped kill some of the tedium and gross
amount of time spent on the bus. I guess the one takeaway from the bus
experiment is that bus people are talkers versus the awkward silence of plane
travel.
Airbnb was also a welcome new experience that fell between the
experiences of a hostel and a hotel perfectly. I had a private room opposed to
a whole apartment or house to myself. I
had an older woman as a host who was happy to sit and talk to me for hours about
everything ranging from the local politics (her disapproval of our politics),
local events, and the history of Quebec province. She had lived in Canada her
entire life and had been similarly adventurous when she was in her early
twenties with stories of backpacking through Ireland and catching trips from friendly
containership captains. The very first night she took me out to dinner, and
painfully reminded me of the sad goodbyes I endured the night before I left the
hostel with the friends I had made.
The Magellan Projects, all three of them, have granted me life
experience in such a condensed amount of time. I cannot help but be immensely grateful
for the opportunity the Magellan Project has given me to explore my interests,
be confident in my travels, and communicate with people from all over the
world. The Magellan Project had succeeded in persuading me to attend this
institution, and has succeeded in helping me to grow as a global citizen. As a
three-time Magellanite, I am proud to say those words and I extend my heartfelt
gratitude to all those that make this amazing opportunity possible for the
students of W&J.
Below are three photos from each of my three Magellan Projects.
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