College students discuss travels

CANTON — Ninth-graders in Drew A. White's history classes had a chance to travel around the globe without ever leaving their classroom.

Several students from St. Lawrence University shared their study-abroad experiences by visiting Mr. White's global history classes at Canton Central's Hugh C. Williams High School.

From the Great Wall of China to the African bush, high school students heard about foreign lands and exotic places on six different continents.

During presentations earlier this month, visiting SLU students displayed photographs and passed around artifacts as they described their experiences.

Meaghan M. Koeller, a SLU senior who stayed with a Chinese family, described her visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, where thousands of protesters gathered in 1989 to demand political and economic reforms.

"There are several memorials to the martyrs of the revolution," the 22-year-old said.

Hiking steep mountains and riding down an alpine slide were highlights of her trip, along with visits to the Forbidden City and People's Square.

"It was always an adventure wherever I went. Everything was so exotic," Ms. Koeller said. "China is such a vast country. It has different geography throughout it."

She described the city of Shanghai, with a population of about 20 million, as a "concrete jungle" filled with huge skyscrapers and modern architecture.

Other SLU students described their travels to Kenya, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Costa Rica, Austria, London, Denmark, Spain, France, Mexico, Senegal and Canada.

SLU senior Victoria F. Carton, 21, spent a semester in Africa, where she experienced the vast difference between urban living in Kenya and Nairobi and rural life in remote villages.

"There is such a big divide in how they live," Ms. Carton said.

During her rural home stay, she milked goats, picked tea and went on hunting trips with local villagers.

Despite their humble lifestyle, Ms. Carton said, people living in rural areas seemed content.

"They know the rest of the world exists, but they are happy to do their own thing," she said.

Jonathan C. Carls, 14, said he enjoyed hearing about countries far away from Northern New York.

"I like it because it gives me ideas about where I might want to go," he said. "I like learning about different cultures and how other people live. I think I might want to go to France."

Mr. White said he feels it's important to expose his students to more than just textbooks and lectures as they study global history.

"Hopefully, it inspires them to do some things they might not otherwise do," he said.