Chantal in Nicaragua with SIT
Well, it’s finally over. I have no idea how it went so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was cursing the hundredth snowfall of the winter and the frozen tundra of Brattleboro while working feverishly on five different group projects at once. It seems like just the day before that I was sitting on the hill outside Boyce Lawn, gazing out at the beautiful Connecticut River Valley draped in sunlight, listening to our beginning of the year convocation ceremony. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun.
I came into this year of graduate education with few expectations. Life taught me a long time ago that expectations often bring disappointment, so I tried very hard not to have any prior to arriving at SIT. In retrospect, that was a good starting place mentally, as I had a completely open mind upon starting classes and was ready for just about anything. Over the course of the year, I found myself continually impressed with the quality of my education and how the topics of my courses meshed so well with subjects that I have long been passionate about. This unique blend of passion and intellectual stimulation drove me to really engage with my classes (my readings, my professors, my colleagues) in a way that I never did during my undergraduate years.
Now don’t misunderstand me: the year wasn’t all sunshine and roses. There were very difficult moments, moments that sometimes turned into hours and days. There were big disappointments, angering interactions, and really tough issues to deal with throughout the year. But the beauty of SIT’s environment was that circumstances did not allow for me to be down for too long. Whether it was an upcoming conference like the Net Impact conference in Nashville, a guest speaker like acclaimed author Cris Beam, a student-led event like Race for a Reason or People, Plants, and Possibilities, there was no time to stand still and wallow in negative emotions. That was definitely part of what made the year magical and well-balanced, and what propelled me forward each day so that I could keep learning.
What I learned at the SIT Graduate Institute was more than just sound corporate social responsibility practices, financial management, and project design. What I learned was that I can achieve personal goals, small or large. What I learned is that intercultural communication is one of the most important skills a global citizen can have today. What I learned is that doing what is right is almost never synonymous with doing what is easy. What I learned is that true friends can carry you when you feel too heavy to carry yourself. What I learned is that even the most open-minded places have deep, dark closed-off pockets of people. What I learned is that the power of one is definitely enough to make a difference. What I learned is that I never knew how much there was to learn.
No year in my life has ever been so jam-packed, so stress-ridden, or so completely rewarding as this past year at SIT. I had no idea what it would turn out to be when it started, but somewhere in my mind I hoped for something about half as interesting. And now that it’s over, I feel as though there is a large empty space in my heart and my head. That space was reserved for SIT over the last year, for philosophical discussions with friends, for mind-bending conversations with professors, and for absorbing the constant beauty of my experience in Brattleboro. I struggle daily to fill that space just a little so that I don’t miss everything so much, but I fear the struggle is in vain… In my dream of dreams, my next full-time job will rival the complete experience I had at SIT. Is that even possible, I wonder? Only time will tell.
To all of the staff at World Learning who support the Graduate Institute, I offer one student’s gratitude for all your hard work, patience, and kindness. To all the senior administrators at World Learning, I say thank you for taking steps this year to safeguard the future of this school, for stewarding the whole organization to the best of your great abilities, and for being open to the student body. To all the professors of the Graduate Institute, thanks for touching our lives so deeply and leading us toward knowledge in your inimitable way. To all the students of PIM67 and MAT39, thank you for your passion, your commitment to our school, your contributions to our collective learning, and keeping me on my toes.
It was an extraordinary year.
Chantal Sheehan is currently enrolled in the Master of Science in Management concentration of the Program in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management. Chantal has just finished working with the Communications and Marketing Department of World Learning as a work-study student and roving reporter during the 07/08 academic year. To contact Chantal, email chantal.sheehan@mail.sit.edu
