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The town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales has a
population of approximately 1,300 and no fewer than 36 bookstores to
accommodate all their reading needs. In addition to this plethora of
bookstores, the town also boasts a literature festival that draws 40,000
visitors from around the world. Last summer Sam Wood, a senior in the College
of Sciences and Humanities, and ten other Ball State students
were among those visitors.
"They had a slew of speakers. Norman Mailer was there, and P. D. James, Karen Armstrong, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Geza Vermes, who worked on translations of the Dead Sea Scrolls," Wood explains in a rush. "Many of the literary themes for the festival were things the English enjoy like gardening, history, literature. Hay-on-Wye was the focus of our trip. But London was a phenomenal eye-opening experience. I have traveled around the United States a lot, but I had never been anywhere that cosmopolitan. Maybe that has something to do with their colonial past. The British Museum had artifacts from around the world. And the tube was efficient, clean, and cheap. It was great for getting around when you didn’t have a car or a lot of money."
The students were part of a group from Ball State led by Joanne Edmonds, assistant dean of the Honors College, and Tony Edmonds, professor of history. They were enrolled in a two-week course titled The Critical Reader Abroad: An Honors Colloquium in London, Hay-on-Wye (Wales), and Oxford. Before leaving for the United Kingdom, the students read books written by writers they would see at the festival. Upon their return to Ball State, the students turned in journals and completed a final paper to earn course credit. To hear Wood tell it, the experience was mind boggling. He described writers, museums, cities, subways, mountains, and even rain with unrestrained enthusiasm. But adventures like this are not cheap. Airfare, lodging, food, and other expenses brought each student’s bill to about $2,200. This is where the generosity of Marshall E. Rinker Sr. comes in. Sam is a Rinker International Scholar. Marshall Rinker, who grew up in Cowan and attended Ball State in the 1920s, gave the university money to establish scholarships to help students travel abroad for educational experiences. For many students, $500 to $1,000 in assistance can make study abroad go from dream to reality. It has helped Sam and many others gain international perspectives that altered career plans, opened eyes, and challenged thinking. "The British Museum was probably the top moment in my life. I am interested in religion, and the museum was outstanding for me because it had some of the oldest copies of New Testament, Jewish, Koran, and Gita texts in existence," says Wood. "Being in the presence of these ancient texts, where someone poured a huge portion of their entire being into these books, books that shaped their lives, that shaped history, was amazing." Barely pausing for breath, Wood continues, "The trip broadened my experiences more than reading any book or seeing any show on the Discovery Channel. It’s the difference between being there and just reading about it." The university has made these experiences a major part of its educational focus. Marshall Rinker’s contribution, continued gifts from the Marshall E. Rinker Foundation, and the contributions made by many other alumni and friends specifically to support international study have made foreign travel affordable for students. That effort has been such a success that Ball State was listed in the Chronicle of Higher Education this year as having the eighth highest rate among American colleges and universities of students studying abroad. For Sam, last summer’s overseas adventure was, in his own word, "excellent." Countless other students will have the opportunity for similar experiences because of Marshall Rinker’s interest in education, in international relations, and in adding to the breadth of experiences possible for students at Ball State. Continue: Scholarships and Fellowships |
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Sam Wood
