Pacific Index

Pacific’s travel writing class to Italy gives students new opportunities

“Traveling is good for anybody, it broadens your worldview,” explains Rhyah Jackson. 

Sitting in the UC, Jackson and Cyd Sugiyama pour out details from their summer travel course to Tuscany, Italy, a two-week summer travel program hosted by the English Department. Both kinesiology majors, Sugiyama with an additional minor in biology and Jackson minoring in psychology, admit they felt a little out of place at first in this writing course. “Everyone in our class was writing majors,” Sugiyama says. However, both seniors had nothing but good reviews regarding their course experiences. 

“I feel like if I went to Italy by myself, I wouldn’t have been able to have a lot of those experiences,” Jackson says. She is referring to the various activities she and her classmates did in Tuscany, including biking in the city Lucca, art class in Prato, and visiting the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. “I feel like the pizza making class was the best thing that came out of it, just because it was with an actual family. We got to make the dough like how they would make it, and see the process of it,” Sugiyama describes. 

The travel writing course was guided by Department Chair Kathlene Postma and English Language Institute Program Coordinator Scot Dobberfuhl, whom both students complimented as being very helpful. “Kathlene has done a lot of studying and knows some Italian, and she’s done this class before too so she knows some people there. So we met Mimma and Duccio who are really cool; they restored this whole church,” says Jackson, referring to La Macina di San Cresci. Sugiyama also explains that students were able to see real Italian life, not tourist life, thanks to their professors. “Our teachers organized us to go into actual Italian houses and homes. We didn’t stay in hotels, we stayed in Airbnbs.”

As this was also a writing course, all students were required to complete writing projects with subjects of their choice. Though this may sound difficult, Jackson and Sugiyama were able to find a way to make their projects fun. “We could either do a blog or a ten page essay,” shares Sugiyama. Both of them laugh when Jackson adds, “We both did the blog.” This included five blog posts covering their chosen topics as well as their experiences in Italy. Jackson, who wrote about fashion in Italy, visited a textile museum in Prato. Sugiyama chose the topic of pizza, and greatly enjoyed her research. “We ate a lot of pizza,” she says, both of them laugh again.  

In spite of being out of their normal elements, Sugiyama and Jackson greatly enjoyed their experience. “I ten out of ten recommend,” Jackson pronounces when asked if they think students should include travel courses in their college education. “I feel like the two week one is really good. It’s good enough time to explore everything, but not be too homesick or be too overwhelmed,” Sugiyama adds. She also expresses that the course gave them opportunities to meet new people, not just in Italy, but other students at Pacific. “I feel like…we wouldn’t normally meet people that were in the class because they’re in a different world.”