Browsing: International

Common Grounds, located on Eighth Street in Waco, is known for its dizzying selection of specialty drinks. Plain black coffee isn’t one of them.

After the recent disasters in Japan, several of Baylor’s exchange students found themselves facing the challenges of truly comprehending what had happened in their homelands and trying to find ways to help from afar.

As 2010 Baylor alumna Jennifer Rader stood in her kitchen making Ramen noodles for lunch on March 11, her apartment building in Sendai, Japan, started to shake with the tremors of the country’s most violent recorded earthquake to date. She turned off the gas to her stove and, as the shaking worsened, decided to open her door so that if the building shifted it wouldn’t get stuck. But it wouldn’t budge.

The words spring break bring to mind different things for different people. For two Baylor students, this spring break meant a return visit to the earthquake- and tsunami-ravaged areas of Chile.

Baylor’s six students studying abroad in Japan are safe and expected to remain in the country to complete their studies despite the tragedies that occurred last week, unless the situation changes, according to Katie Erickson, exchange program and study abroad adviser.

Spring break presents a time for most students to escape. But six Baylor students will embark on a true escape as they pilgrimage to Taize, France, to participate in a community of fellowship.

When packing her bags for spring break, Round Rock senior Colby Bouchard won’t be including tanning oil or bathing suits. Instead, she will be packing medical equipment and her Bible for Baylor’s American Medical Student Association trip to Guatemala.

Many children think they will grow up to change the world one day, but only a select few actually do. By age 11, Daniella Romero, a 2010 Baylor alumna with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and a native Mexican, knew she wanted to be involved in world affairs.

Most students’ spring break plans include sunbathing, relaxing and escaping from the classroom. But for eight family and consumer science students, spring break will be an application of what they’ve learned in the classroom as the childhood development team travels to Belize for an academic mission.

As tensions and political unrest began to rise in Egypt over the past two weeks, two Baylor students studying there found themselves caught between recommendations that they leave and their own desires to stay in a country they had grown to love.

The two Baylor students participating in a study abroad program at American University in Cairo have left Egypt because of its political unrest and are now waiting to see how the situation unfolds before making further plans.

A Baylor associate professor’s recent study in Belize examines how people and communities respond to climate change and natural disasters. Results from the study indicated that secure households are able to respond more effectively to climate change and disasters.