Interpersonal Relationships; Duke Marine Lab

I felt most at home about a month and a half into my study away. The first three weeks I was out of the country for an ecology course. When we returned I ended up having to go home for some family reasons so I wasn’t actually in my host destination for more than two or three days until a month in. With the way classes worked a few girls and I had a free weekend so we decided to go for a backpacking trip. We woke up around 4:30 Saturday morning and began our 5 hour drive out to Uwharrie National Forest in the middle of North Carolina. Both girls I went with were Duke students so a few of their friends from main campus met us for the weekend as well. We did twenty miles in two days through the park coming across lots of critters and beautiful scenery. It was something my friends and I from back home would enjoy doing and even though I’d really only known half the people I went with for two weeks and the others for two days it was a bonding experience were I felt I could just relax and be myself completely. We left Sunday evening feeling exhausted, in a good way, with many memories and inside jokes from the two days.

The marine lab is on an Island were you need to go through a gate to enter. With this seclusion and such a small group, around 40 students plus staff during the day, there are few community rules. They’re pretty similar to what’s asked of students at Allegheny, just act with respect to yourself and others and have acceptance of values and beliefs that may not be yours. Relationships form quickly because there’s not many undergraduate students and you’re sure to see them ALL at least three times a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a very research focused community with few classes, only 2 or 3 going on at once, so there is many professors and graduate students moving about campus working on their own projects that you may not know. Students are provided with opportunities, like lunches and seminars, to get to know these professionals and learn about the field they work in. Expectations out of and attitudes towards different genders and sexualities are the same. We are treated as individuals not divided by gender or ethnicity. Sometimes these questions are difficult to answer because the differences between Allegheny or home (also in Pennsylvania) and my host destination are less obvious.

            To students planning to study away next semester I would say you’d be surprised at how fast your time away from Allegheny goes. Take every opportunity you have to do something new and fully immerse yourself in your host destination.