PHOTO: London, Spain and Nepal... Oh My!

London’s calling

During J-term, I got the opportunity to go to London to study abroad for HUM490 (Archives and Artifacts), taught by Kimberly Hamlin. During the two week trip, I not only got to research at several archives – The British Library, The Women’s Library at the London School of Economics and The National Archives – but I also was able to go around London and spend time exploring.

What I really enjoyed about this class was how individualized it was. There were group aspects of the trip – my two personal favorites were going to Brick Lane and having a delicious curry dinner and seeing the West End show “Operation Mincemeat” – but the beauty of the program is that you got to choose your own topic and were able to pretty much completely tailor your time to what you wanted or needed to do during the day.

I did not have a clear plan of what I wanted to research prior to getting to London. All I really knew I wanted to research was the early Suffragette movement. As the first week went on, I realized that I wanted to study the Women’s Social and Political Union (a militant suffrage group), specifically examining how their fashion and the media around them furthered their cause and how it shaped the suffrage movement and remains relevant to today. I plan to continue my research and hopefully submit and present it at the Undergraduate Research Forum.

It was a quick trip, so it really was a “work hard play hard” situation. My group of friends and I really made the most of our time outside the archives. This is the second time I’ve been lucky enough to study abroad at Miami University, and this program is truly a hidden gem.

@schislhc@miamioh.edu

Attitudes at altitude

This winter, I got the awesome opportunity to complete my nutrition major senior capstone in Nepal with Dr. Mark Walsh (KNH 402, Life At The Top Of The World). During this trip, I spent 17 days immersing myself in Nepali culture. We went trekking in the Annapurna Mountain Range, took a flight to see Mount Everest, went on a safari in Chitwan National Park, and saw some really elaborate Buddhist and Hindu temples in Kathmandu.

This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would have never thought I would get the chance to spend eight days trekking in the Himalayas, let alone get college credit for it. The trek was not easy, but the view at the top was breathtaking (literally). We also took our blood oxygen percentage and pulse with a pulse oximeter as we climbed the mountain, which was very interesting to measure. As we would get higher, our resting heart rate would increase to accommodate our decreasing blood oxygen percentage. As we went back down to a lower altitude, our pulses and blood oxygen percentage would make their way back to normal.

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While I knew culture in Nepal was very different from the United States, there were some big differences that I didn’t expect. The first was that every single price is negotiable. You can always haggle your prices down for just about anything. My biggest bargain was saving 100 Nepali Rupees (72 cents) on a little stuffed yak made out of wool.

One of my favorite experiences in Nepal was New Year’s Eve in Nepal's capital city, Kathmandu. We had such a blast exploring the city and the energy was indescribable as the clock ticked down to the new year.

This program is definitely the most unique experience I have ever had and I made such an amazing group of friends because of it.

@selvagsn@miamioh.edu

A Mediterranean Autumn: Visiting Alicante with USAC

@wahllm@miamioh.edu