Honors Link

June 24^th, 2013 saw nine Honors College students, one instructor, and one student advisor all on a train traveling across the Hungarian countryside to Cluj, Romania. They definitely did not fit in, as the collection of bulging luggage, miscellaneous food, and characteristically loud “American” conversations caught the eyes and ears of every local on the train. It would be totally reasonable to wonder a variety of things when confronted with this group, such as “What are they doing here?”, “Who are these people?”, and “How large is a sloth?”

My name is Sam Settelmeyer, and I am a recent HC alum. I was fortunate enough to  join in the first offering of the HC’s Building Homes and Hope: Delivering Service Learning in Romania during the 2012-2013 academic year. Ultimately culminating in a group Habitat for Humanity trip to Romania, this class is part of a larger HC interest in providing HC students with non-traditional educational experiences inside the classroom as well as out.

The whole experience began with a series of small, discussion-based classes called colloquia. Our discussions varied from how communication styles differ across cultures to ways of navigating unknown mass-transit systems. While this much preparation time was a new concept for Dr. Dave Kovac, our trip leader and course instructor, the classes definitely got us all thinking about interacting with people who have different points of view, as well as what we, as individuals, would bring to assist the group.

Flash forward to our ragtag gang loaded on the train. For some people in the group, this was their first time out of the United States. Some members had not even met each other before the trip. But that seven hour train ride set me at ease, as it confirmed once and for all that our trip was going to be AWESOME.

In addition to acclimating everyone to each other and to the idea of being on a true adventure, this train ride also saw the establishment of several group activities and dynamics that would persist for the duration of the trip: inside jokes (a popular example being confusion over the size of a modern-day sloth) and good humor in general, constant discussion of the group’s observations and an overarching desire to get as much out of our trip as possible.

The Habitat for Humanity build cite was in Cluj, and there we worked for eight full days spread over two weeks. It was here, as we worked, talked and ate all day, that the group’s true identity was established. The work was broken up with a fair amount of play, as we had each weekend to wander about the town, go to operas, explore the night scene, and eat. The last activity needs to be reiterated: We ate a TON of food. Essentially every dinner was a two-hour (or more) affair, and we ate to our fill and past while talking about anything under the sun.

My attempts to harness this trip in text-form cannot house its true greatness. An incredible group of people learned a ton about each other, themselves, and Eastern European culture, joined by genuine shared interests in life around them and helping others. As someone who has had the opportunity of traveling quite a bit in my life thus far, I am extremely happy to have gone on this trip. The group and the opportunity for travel made the trip the experience of a lifetime.

Sam Settelmeyer graduated from the Honors College in 2013 with an HBS in physics education