Alumni Spotlight: Robert Durborow

The GEC provided the academic courses, complete schedules, food and lodging, and all the information I needed. They also arrange for course-related travel and lodging, tickets to shows, and the like.

I had to make my own travel arrangements, purchase an Oyster card for travel and a cell phone to keep in touch. I took a number of side trips in my free time, and had to schedule those on my own as well. The balance between course work and free time worked out quite well. I think it was good to have the students pay for a few things as well.

My study abroad experiences have thus far been through Southern Utah University’s Global Engagement Center. The center provides the complete package and covers all the bases. Before students leave, we are briefed on safety, what to expect, sites to see, and what to do in case of emergency. During the trip we stick together, even in our free time. We are encouraged to keep journals and take lots of pictures, some of which are published on the GEC’s website to inspire future study abroad students.

My most meaningful souvenir is, of all things, a Q-tip. It came into my possession at the Savoy theater in London. I was fortunate to obtain a day-pass for Sunshine Boys (Danny DeVito, Richard Griffiths) front row, center seat. The show was amazing and as Danny DeVito took his bows feet from where I stood, he picked up a discarded prop from the stage: a Q-tip. “Look,” He said directly to me, “a see-stick [what they called it in the play].” The Q-tip I kept was not that Q-tip, but came from a Tesco. Still, it represents an experience I will always cherish.

The main piece of advice I would give is to step past your fears and go. A number of my friends wanted to go on these trips, but were afraid to step so far outside their comfort zones.

My advice is to choose a reputable provider and take that step. You will not only experience learning no conventional classroom can provide, but you will create memories to last a lifetime. The last thing I want to say in my dotage is, “I wish I had done that.” Don’t you say that either. Go for it. Live your learning.

As I stated earlier, these experiences have inspired me to pursue my post-graduate studies abroad, if possible. These experiences have also guaranteed that if my children wish to study abroad, I will make it happen. I encourage everyone to do this at least once.

Every one of my classmates and I had some experience or series of experiences that changed our world view in a profound manner. Unrealistic stereotypes we might have had previously lay shattered in the streets of London, Edinburgh, Margraten, and more. My personal experience has drawn me closer to my heritage and family and reduced the size of the planet in my eyes. I feel more connected to myself and to the world.

Our program was academically challenging and forced us to think outside the box. As we were studying the world of Harry Potter, the social experience was inextricably intertwined with the academic. We were sorted into houses before we left and conducted ourselves as Hogwarts students the entire time we were there. That was several years ago, but we still keep in touch… all of us.

We created a Facebook page for the class and continue to keep up with each other through that still active page. We don’t pay too much attention to houses anymore (truth be told, we never really did), and everyone is interested in what everyone else is doing. I was Gryffindor prefect and my best friend is a Slytherin.

I could mention all the words that have completely different meanings in London-English than in American-English (cheers, mate, love, etc.), but the cultural “tidbit” that stood out most was a matter of absence. That is, I was struck by what I didn’t see and hear more than what I did.

For instance, I never heard a racial slur come from a native. I never heard a gunshot fired because someone wasn’t wearing the right colors. Still, some of the things I saw had the same effect. I saw Russian, Arab, Christian, Muslim, Black, White, and every shade in between treating each other with respect. Men regularly got out of their seats on the Tube so women could sit.

The color of skin didn’t matter. I saw a man in a fine suit buy a meal for a man in rags. Perhaps what I did and didn’t see and/or hear were isolated things, but I think not. That kind of universal respect and caring is something I can never see enough of.

My experience was unique and special for one glaring reason: because it was my own. My fellow students had similar experiences, but no one’s was exactly like mine. I brought my own history, my own stereotypes, expectations, and requirements to the experience.

I can’t vouch for the rest of my group, but I for one got what I came for. Yes, I learned about Harry Potter in a way I never thought of before, but I learned more about people and places that were not my own. They are now. The overwhelming feeling I had upon landing at Heathrow was one of homecoming…every time. I feel as if I’m part of a much greater world than I was before. And I am. Nothing will ever look, smell, taste, or feel the same again. What could be better?

Yes, I do. If what I have shared thus far does not make it clear, my study abroad experiences have changed me forever. I am a poet (among other things) and see the world around me in shades of love and hate, prosperity and despair, beauty and ugliness.

In order to appreciate the world as it really is, you must see it, touch it, feel its pulse. My study abroad experience has allowed me to do those things and opened the wide world to my view. I will continue to travel as often as I can. I’ve seen a fair bit of Europe now, perhaps New Zealand or Chile next? Who knows? The one thing I do know is that study abroad was just the beginning.