Blogs Can't Capture the Full Experience

A brief blog entry can't begin to capture the full experience of this ISLP trip! As a group, we have experienced and learned so much!

Yesterday we meet with people at both campuses (Barbados Community College and University of the West Indies-Cave Hill) as well as toured each. It was nice to be welcomed to their institutions and to learn a bit about each one. In addition, these meetings allowed us to better understand the similarities and differences between these institutions and ours. I was also impressed with how well prepared the UofL students were, how much research they had done in advance, and the questions that they posed to administrators.

Our UWI hosts invited us to a dinner and cultural performance last night with 80 students from the Mona campus in Jamaica who are visiting as part of their first-year experience. It was a lovely end to a great day! We enjoyed talking with these outstanding new students, saw a great dance performance, and got to sample several yummy local foods. Each of these experiences helped us to better understand the educational system and culture of Barbados.

Today our group is divided between the BCC and UWI campuses, with students engaged in meetings to learn more about their particular areas of focus. The information gathered will shape their presentations tomorrow. In observing the group at UWI, I have been impressed with how open and candid the exchange of ideas was. Part of what has made this experience so special is that although we arrived as strangers, we were welcomed as friends and colleagues—thus, open dialogue about accomplishments and challenges at each school was easy. Many ideas have already been exchanged and several are likely to be followed up on.

Beyond the academic experience, we are having great weather, eating great good, and loving our time in Barbados! It is difficult to believe that our time here is half over – assuming that we don't decide to stay!

Dr. Joy Hart, Professor, Communication & ISLP Faculty Co-Coordinator