William Choi
Rationale
Something that I have always wanted to do is travel. Whether that be in the country or abroad, I have always wondered what cultures there is out there to discover. At times, I find myself wondering if all the pictures of famous landmarks are even real or wondering what it would be like to go somewhere English is not the first language. Recently I got the courage to sign up for a non-religious volunteer trip, GIVE Volunteers, to Tanzania where the plan is to help build self-sustainable structures for the natives and at the end climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. Overall, the trip meets my desires to travel abroad and go somewhere English is not the first language. However, a question that I wanted to answer before going was how it came to be that the GIVE community ended up in Tanzania? Were they asked to come and assist or have they been imposing themselves upon the natives? Currently I am part of the community of GIVE Volunteers at FSU on Facebook, but it is just a group on Facebook right now as it does not meet the qualifications of being an actual club on campus. Although small, through this community I plan on interviewing someone who has done a trip questions of their experiences through GIVE and through looking up articles up on databases I plan on answering questions about how natives feel toward voluntourism and the methods of the growing phenomenon.
Peer Profile Interview: Kohlman
The lights are flashing and it is Pi Phi's charity dance contest. Taking a look around, the room is full of young damsels of the many sororities on campus. Dance music comes on and standing center stage, with fellow pledge mates, it is time to break out the Magic Mike routine. One of these pledges is freshman Kohlman, of ATO. Recalling this as his "most memorable pledging event" he says that him and his fraternity brothers ended up winning the contest that earned them roses, a trophy, along with the ever-so-important bragging rights.
From a glance, an on looker might be able to say that the fact that his long family ties ended up swaying his decision to become a Seminole, but it seems to be not the case. A Tallahassee native Kohlman says he chose FSU as his "first choice school" and that "no other school really compared." He also added that "in-state tuition is hype." Currently a finance major, Kohlman says that that might be subject to change soon as he is considering political science, which is picking up momentum as he has even been hired and is soon to be on the job as a helper at the capitol building in town.
When asked about what his biggest, unexpected adjustment to college life has been he simply said that going to class becomes a lot harder as parents are no longer watching over the shoulder, which is expected as it is a new type of freedom that most college students experience for the first time. Another adjustment that he gave was a pretty common one as living in a dorm was different though he likes all of his roommates', but he says he actually spends more nights crashing at friends or brother's place always having his backpack on hand.
As a highlight to his first semester at FSU Kohlman shared his experiences during winter break. Him and his entire family went on a cruise to Cosmo, Mexico (a little island off the coast of Mexico) then caught a plane which took him to Colorado for an ATO ski-trip that included him and about 15 other brothers. The time there was spent the time "skiing, meeting people, and dancing around having a good time." Kohlman seems to be an avid dancer as he said he could "break out a dance move at any point in the day."
Overall Kohlman characterizes his first semester as "tiring, but it has been a lot of fun." He even went on to say that he's really enjoying the experience and that he has made a lot of new friends.