Kim Johnson – In our staff meeting Monday morning we were discussing the weeks events and what we would be able to cover. When Jim Amidon mentioned the group coming from FAESA (University of Espírito Santo) in Brazil I volunteered to cover it since I’d spent a little time in Brazil through a former job. I have a friend that lives in Brazil and thought “wouldn’t that be funny if she were part of this group coming to Wabash but surely I would have heard from her if she was going to be on campus.”
 
I got out my notes yesterday morning so I could make sure I was on time for everything and that I knew as much about the event as I could before going in to the first class about fell off my chair when I saw my friend Stella’s name mentioned in one of the e-mails!
 
Stella and I met 17 years ago in high school (although she doesn’t like when I say 17 years ago) when she was a foreign exchange student and living with one of my best friends. What I didn’t know until yesterday is that her American father, Don Russell ’72, is a Wabash alum.
 
Stella, uh-hem I mean, Professor Santana, is the head of the Law Clinic at FAESA as well as a professor of environmental law. She contacted Tom Wilson ’77 at IU School of Law in Indianapolis about bringing a few of her students to IU to learn about the US legal system. As they learned more about each other they decided to include Wabash as part of the trip – to the benefit of all involved!
 
As I watched the students interact with the group from FAESA, it reminded me of when I took a group of college students to Rio (and connected with Stella) to teach and learn there. The Wabash students were excited to hear the Brazilians speak Portuguese – it really is a beautiful sounding language. And they were anxious to try out phrases they knew and learn more – just as the Brazilian students wanted to hear the Americans speak and then try out their English when we were in Rio.
 
What I loved about the day yesterday was, of course, the opportunity to see my friend that I hadn’t seen in a couple years. But it also reminded me that however “small” the world seems there is a lot of culture and diversity that we just can’t learn from reading a book. And Wabash goes out of its way to bring opportunities to its students to interact with as many different cultures and people as possible.
 
It may be a speaker, panel, or musical ensemble. It may be an immersion trip. It may be a month in Ecuador. But whatever the event, the faculty, staff, and alumni have gone to great lengths to make sure the students will learn from the opportunity and be able to share a little something of themselves too.
 
It certainly wasn’t the day I thought I was going to have when I first sat down at my desk yesterday morning. Indeed it was better. Even the seemingly usual days become a day of learning and opportunity for me when I take advantage of all the College has to offer.