When I was home-schooled, much of my learning experience was devoted to ancient civilizations. The ancient Greeks intrigued me because of the homogenous mix of industry and philosophy that was their culture. So, when I was given the opportunity to travel to Greece with well-respected professors of religious studies and history from Western Kentucky University, I jumped at the chance.
Throughout the McConnell Scholars program, as a scholar, one is encouraged to learn to think well and to embrace a liberal education. It is possible to argue that the ancient Greeks practically started the tradition of liberal education. It was within their culture that philosophy thrived, reaching its pinnacle in great minds such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. Thus, at this point, it is useful to say that my study abroad trip to Greece served to take me to the source of what I was learning at the McConnell Center and to build upon what I had learned previously.
On its own, study abroad is immensely important in the development of a liberal education at the university level. The traditional classroom is an essential tool for learning, but how much better is it to be in the living classroom: the world. The opportunity to experience culture and history in an up-close-and-personal way has a lasting impact on a student; one that I found can be more powerful than the words heard in any lecture. The McConnell Center helped provide me with both kinds learning experiences throughout the last year: in the seminars and lectures as a part of the Scholars program, and also by providing financial aid for my study abroad to Greece.
Greece, contemporarily, is in a very interesting position politically and economically. A study abroad traversing the southern half of Greece, with a lot of time spent in Athens, allowed me to see the impacts of Greece’s current state on the governmental systems and its citizens. While I was in Athens, I had first hand experience with some of the rioting that has been thoroughly covered in the news. It was an incredible experience to be able to discuss the reasons behind the riots with the picketing locals, who seemed to be mostly frustrated over unemployment. This was a side benefit of study abroad that I had not originally anticipated.
In history, the Greeks play a part that is the literally the stuff of legends. Much of Greek culture and history was passed down in the form of some of the earliest stories belonging to the human race, which were transmitted orally by poets and philosophers. Figures of mythology show up all over Greece, especially in art and architecture; and they transcend time, appearing in modern works as well. The Greeks were masters at art. Even their burial stones were wonderfully elaborate. One bronze statue of a boy on his horse looked like it could have belonged in the Derby Museum. This proved to me that just because something is ancient does not mean it is necessarily bested by anything modern. There is something so intriguing about the fact that although technology has definitely evolved since ancient times, the sense of wonder our monuments and achievements evoke is equal to, if not less than, the awe I felt when I looked at any of the marvels of ancient Greece.
These figures – gods, goddesses, heroes, nymphs, etc. – are heavily represented in the ruins of Ancient Greece. While on study abroad I was able to visit many of the centers of ancient Greek culture such as: Athens, Mycenae, Corinth and Delphi. In ancient times, travelers would converge on Delphi from all over the world to hear evidence of their future fate from the famous oracle. People of all origins still walk the ruins at Delphi, only now they do so to see evidence of the ancient Greeks’ fate. I was incredibly blessed to be one of those travelers; it has already had a large impact on me both as a person and as a scholar. I would not have been able to experience any of it without the McConnell Center’s help both in terms of an education and finances.
- Sarah Stovall (Warren County, '14)