Maria Scott
Maria departed for her study abroad experience fearless with an overwhelming level of excitement. She lived for six weeks on the Duquesne campus in Boccea, Italy and travelled around Italy where she studied the Italian healthcare system and various cultures from a nurse’s perspective. She visited the island of Sicily where she learned about the Mediterranean diet, toured the world’s leading transplant hospital, ISMET, and both studied and swam in medicinal volcanic springs. She attended Duquesne University’s conference on Italian healthcare where she was able to absorb a wealth of knowledge from leaders in the Italian healthcare system. All the research and nursing theories that were presented to her were groundbreaking and inspiring. Maria interviewed locals to survey how they view their healthcare and government. She was able to converse and experience the culture and learn about over twenty different cultures and their cultural applications for healthcare to apply to her practice. She developed a network of mentors as she traveled alongside her nursing faculty and graduate students. Having the opportunity to study Baroque art was one of the highlights of Maria’s trip as she never expected to take such a liking to it. Maria found herself inspired as she learned about the development of the city of Rome, its artistic foundations and its ancient history. The art its onsite classes provided her with insight about how the Romans view their religion and overall physical health. She became more engrossed in her own religion and was overwhelmed with the spiritual feelings she felt throughout the entire city of Rome. Her cultural experience in Italy enabled her to go outside of her comfort zone to travel to new cities, taking public transportation, sampling local cuisine, and communicating with the locals. After returning back to her home, in the states, she reflected on her time there, the knowledge she had gained and life changing experience she had. She is grateful for her study abroad experience and cultural involvement.
CEE Title: Let's TACO Bout Consumption
Duquesne's 2017 VIH Awardees community engagement event, entitled Let's "Taco" Bout Consumption took place on Tuesday, November 7th, at 9pm in the Duquesne Union Nightspot. The event aimed to spark a conversation on campus about over-consumption both abroad and throughout our local community from economical, community, and environmental standpoints. The event wanted the attendees to both learn and converse about what steps needed to be taken in order to solve and bring attention to the issue of wastefulness that has overtaken society. The VIH awardees, Julia Rodriguez, Rachel Hughes, Maria Scott, worked close with their campus coordinator to utilize campus resources to execute an event that promoted unity and awareness. They hoped to target all students on campus from different backgrounds to attend the event, and they did just that. They advertised and executed the event in an efficient and mature manner. The event had five components: a short-film, a lecture, round table discussions, self-reflection time, and snacking. The short-film kicked off the video and introduced the topic at hand, “Overconsumption”. Each awardee presented a lecture on one of the three subtopics of the event while incorporating examples from their international experiences. The attendees were placed into groups for round table discussions lead by knowledgeable, hand-picked, guest facilitators. Following the lecture and discussion it was time for the guests to self-reflect on the events. We asked each attendee to write a take-away card. After this was complete the guests were free to mingle and snack on tacos, which completed the theme. The event had every element needed for it to be both educationally rewarding for its guests.