Susan Brown '76 Hallenbeck and Robert M. Hallenbeck '76 Endowment

During my internship, I did a lot more than I expected. The main role I had was to work on a project that my supervisor thought of last minute, which was to create a new section of the company, a wine walk to the different wine bars in Dublin. I had to research how to create the most successful wine walk and how to market it so that it is a success. I created avatars (characters that are made of the information of the ideal customers) and then thought of different ways to market to each of them.

One of the primary goals as an intern was to determine potential future clients through analyzing participants' lists in engineering conferences across Europe. Additionally, I also worked on reaching out to representatives in companies of interest through summarizing GHENOVA’s engineering services. For many of my assigned projects, I worked with Excel to categorize data on contact information and feedback from prospective clients.

Over the course of my four months in Thailand, I worked with Dr. Paul Chambers of Chiang Mai University to examine the international dimensions of insurgency in the Patani region of Southern Thailand. Often referred to as the Thai Deep South, Patani is the local name for the three southernmost provinces in Thailand along the Malaysian border. These three provinces are ethnically, linguistically, and religiously distinct from the rest of Thailand. A former kingdom in its own right, Patani is populated by Malay Muslims who have long resisted integration by the larger Thai Buddhist state.

To my beloved, and divided island:

I felt as you received my now aged foreignness. You birthed me as a silent cry for help, to mend the division. To you, I am more than just a mere girl, and so you fill me with big dreams. I have come back to you to learn more about the past and present to aid the future.

My travel grant funds were allocated toward hiking in the Al Rayan Valley in Ajloun, Jordan. As a history major, this region interested me because it has origins dating back to the first civilizations on earth. The hike was led through the Masar Initiative which is a tourism group that focuses on encouraging diversity and inclusion through communication within their hikes. This personalized form of community tourism meant I was one of the only foreigners, allowing me to personally interact with Jordanians aside from my host family.

In the fall semester of 2018 I went on the New York City program and through a generous donation from Hallenbeck Endowment For International Research and Studies I was able to explore the live electronic music scene. NYC is an artistically vibrant and ever-developing environment for new music so it seemed like the perfect place to dive into the electronic underground and to research various performance methods. At St. Lawrence University I have been able to take classes about the production of electronic music as well as the live performance of such.

During my time abroad, I was fortunate enough to travel to Germany in order to explore the
history of Germany, more specifically, Germany during the Third Reich. I was still able to spend
a lengthy time in Berlin which allowed me to explore everything that caught my interest. This
trip exceeded my expectations. When I traveled to Berlin, Germany, I had the chance to travel
to many different memorials/museums. I also took part in the “Hop on Hop off” bus in Berlin,
which allowed me to see all different parts of Berlin, while learning about the history of the city.

During the Fall semester of 2019 I had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad in Amman, Jordan. Being fully immersed in a culture that was different from my own, with its own customs, history and traditions. I learned so much about the language, the food and how people interacted with each other. Since I was fortunate enough to receive a travel grant to go to Malaga, Spain I also wanted to look at how the Spanish culture still had influences of Moorish rule and it was the adventure of a lifetime.

I chose to study abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland because of its rich history and my interest in the United Kingdom’s unique political landscape; but Scotland also has incredible mountain biking. Throughout my semester abroad, I rode world-class enduro trails while exploring much of the Scottish countryside. Grassy hills and sheep are neat, but I knew a larger adventure was in store for my time overseas. Fortunately, my dream became a reality when I received a travel grant from the Hollenbeck family to explore the French Alps in the only way it should be done, two wheels.

During the Spring semester of 2019, I lived and learned in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland as an ISEP student at Ulster University’s Magee campus. I was incredibly fortunate to receive the Hallenbeck Endowment for International Studies which supported my desire to expand upon my fascination for the complexity of the Irish Identity. Throughout my semester I was able to explore the cultural significance and representations of Irishness in Northern Ireland and Ireland in the cities of Derry, Belfast, Dublin, and Cork.