{"id":58833,"date":"2025-05-06T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=58833"},"modified":"2025-05-05T18:42:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:42:51","slug":"students-reflect-on-spring-intercultural-trip-to-guatemala-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/students-reflect-on-spring-intercultural-trip-to-guatemala-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Students reflect on spring intercultural trip to Guatemala, Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cAfter completing another week in Guatemala, I have come to the conclusion that I like living here very much,\u201d wrote Malachi Cornelius<\/strong> on EMU\u2019s intercultural blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornelius, a sophomore, was one of 17 students from EMU who participated in the spring semester intercultural trip to Guatemala and Mexico. Professor Wendell Shank,<\/strong> who teaches Spanish and linguistics, and Liz Miller,<\/strong> from Intercultural Programs, led the group in exploring history, culture, and language within the context of colonization. They spent eight weeks living with host families in Guatemala City, followed by some free travel time, and then two weeks of community learning in various Guatemalan organizations before traveling to Mexico City.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Students aboard a boat in Lake Pet\u00e9n Itz\u00e1, Guatemala. (Photo by Zoe Clymer)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Zoe Clymer<\/strong>, a junior at EMU, described her two weeks of community service at a private clinic on the outskirts of Guatemala City as \u201ceye-opening.\u201d She shadowed various positions in the clinic, prompting her to consider her role in health care and how she wants to help people stay healthy. Several other students worked in a clinic in San Juan. Ivy Miller, <\/strong>a sophomore, helped take patients\u2019 vitals and sorted through piles of medicine for the pharmacy. She described the two weeks as \u201cnerve-racking at some points,\u201d but also appreciated the opportunity to \u201cbe helping hands to the clinic staff and expand our knowledge one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Students work with the Community Cloud Forest Conservation. (Photo by Liz Miller)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another group of students worked with the Community Cloud Forest Conservation, an organization that teaches leadership skills and environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Nathan Miller<\/strong>, a junior, reported that he and other students helped harvest vegetables, prepare soil at the tree nursery, and cook meals for the group, all while being surrounded by a beautiful landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides community service, students spent the semester learning about migration, economics, human rights, health and education systems, and Mayan history and culture. They visited museums, refugee shelters, schools, and nonprofit organizations, but also got to relax at the ocean, take hikes, and explore volcanoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caleb Metzler<\/strong> said he\u2019s not sure how to compare his level of learning from this past semester with an ordinary one on campus. \u201cWhile I haven\u2019t been sitting in a classroom for three to six hours every day cranking out scholarly papers until my hands feel numb, I\u2019ve had opportunities to learn every time I leave the confines of wherever we are staying,\u201d the EMU junior said. \u201cIt\u2019s almost as if this semester has been a test-run on what life is like, and I feel as though I\u2019ve learned quite a lot about what I want for my future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metzler, a triple major, is still thinking about what he wants to do after graduation. Several key experiences on this intercultural trip made him say, \u201cHey, I think I could enjoy doing this for my career.\u201d These experiences included a presentation from a Guatemalan sociologist, a conversation about legal advocacy surrounding environmental health, and a volunteer experience at a migrant house in Mexico City.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Students visit a public elementary school in Guatemala City. (Photo by Jos\u00e9 David D\u00e1vila)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Students on the intercultural trip sometimes felt overwhelmed with their immersion in a different language, but Spanish classes and placement with host families boosted their language skills. Still, with 22 indigenous Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala, students found themselves in situations where they couldn\u2019t understand the language people around them were speaking. Malia Bauman<\/strong>, a sophomore, worked with the organization ANADESA<\/a> in an area that spoke Tz\u2019utujil; she said it was sometimes difficult to find her place since she didn\u2019t know the language. But she still appreciated hearing their native language since it \u201chelped me see authentic interactions between my family, teachers, students, and community.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Clymer reported that even though it was challenging to express herself in Spanish, one of her highlights from the trip was living with host families \u201cbecause I got to form meaningful connections with people that live very differently from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Students during a goodbye meal with their host family in Guatemala City. (Photo by Juan Witmer)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Students on the trip included Malia Bauman, Noah Buckwalter, Zoe Clymer, Malachi Cornelius, Lily Gusler, Claire Hurst, Emae Klompenhouwer, Esme Martin, Caleb Metzler, Ivy Miller, Nathan Miller, Samuel Myers, Kaylin Ozuna, Rose Short, Payton Simmons, Sarah Wheeler, and Amanda Yoder.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Members of the group shared their experiences and stories from the trip at Convocation on Wednesday, April 30. Watch a recording of their presentation here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Students share stories from their intercultural trip to Guatemala and Mexico on Wednesday. (Photo by Macson McGuigan\/EMU)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAfter completing another week in Guatemala, I have come to the conclusion that I like living here very much,\u201d wrote Malachi Cornelius on EMU\u2019s intercultural blog. Cornelius, a sophomore, was ... read more about Students reflect on spring intercultural trip to Guatemala, Mexico<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":58834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17562,5593,4513,5730],"tags":[6960,11433,18150,7298],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-58833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digest","category-intercultural","category-student-life","category-undergraduate-programs","tag-guatemala","tag-intercultural","tag-intercultural-programs","tag-mexico","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nStudents reflect on spring intercultural trip to Guatemala, Mexico - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/students-reflect-on-spring-intercultural-trip-to-guatemala-mexico\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Students reflect on spring intercultural trip to Guatemala, Mexico - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAfter completing another week in Guatemala, I have come to the conclusion that I like living here very much,\u201d wrote Malachi Cornelius on EMU\u2019s intercultural blog. 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