Students use winter break to travel and explore

When winding down for the break between the fall and spring semesters, many students look forward to getting away for a few weeks and experiencing something new to enhance their education.

But this year, probably none looked forward to it more than Sarah Maxton.

When the Pittsburg State University senior discovered she had precancerous cells just before her grandfather was diagnosed with prostate cancer, she turned to a friend at school – Modern Languages and Literatures administrative specialist Kathy Dyer – for solace.

“It had been a really rough year, and I was looking for something to take my mind off it and Kathy told me about this mission trip to Mexico,” Maxton said. “I told my mom about it and we both decided we wanted to go. My grandpa told me life is for living.”

On Dec. 26, Maxton and a dozen others participating in Helping Hands Missionary Outreach left for Acuna, Mexico, where they spent a week handing out food, toys, and leading church services. The trip, led by PSU alums Brad and Amy Price of Joplin, made good use of Maxton’s studies: this semester the education major is performing her student teaching, with an emphasis in Spanish. During the trip, Maxton served as an interpreter for the missionary speakers.

“It was really the trip of a lifetime where I got to do something good for others,” she said. “It’s something I would never have experienced. This summer if my grandfather gets a clean bill of health, we promised we’d go back with each other.”

Other PSU students and faculty agree the break is a great time for adventure and learning. Wan-Chen “Jennifer” Lin, an international student from Taiwan, used her time off to travel to New York City; Washington D.C.; and Montreal where she visited friends, rang in the New Year on Times Square, and saw the White House.

“I want to take advantage of every chance I have to see the world,” said Lin, who has traveled to Europe, Australia, and is planning a trip this summer to South America. “I couldn’t just sit around on my break and not use the time to explore different cultures and places and meet new people.”

Some students and faculty take advantage of group excursions that meet requirements for class credit over the four-week break. Several students, faculty and staff recently returned from a two-week trip to India, and the Pittsburg State University choir also recently returned from Germany where they participated in the 2008 American Celebration in Music. A handful of SIFE students traveled to Russia to carry out several projects they had been working on during the fall semester. Others travel in shifts, like the nearly 40 nursing majors who took turns working at an impoverished clinic in Mexico for a week in December and a week in January.

“This is one of the largest international experiences we have on campus,” said Dr. Barbara McClasky, a professor in the Department of Nursing. For the past 10 years, she has taken students to El Paso, Texas, where they cross the border each day to volunteer their services at a hospital in Juarez. The students take donated supplies and perform tasks such as starting IVs, taking assessments and measuring vital signs, and observing surgeries. Because of the popularity of the trip, McClasky says nearly 70 students are interested in going next year.

“The timing is so convenient, and the break is just long enough for our students to go out and have these experiences,” she said. “I hope the interest in traveling and learning continues and that students use their time off to see new things.”

---Pitt State---