Supporting Pennsylvania College of Technology’s mission to equip future leaders with real-world experience, faculty members led students in exploring new parts of that world through six 2024 Global Experience classes. In Europe, students explored the origin and future of objects of their study, and in Latin America, they used their budding skills to serve others. Around 135 students participated in the classes.
Alumni who, as students, provided oral health care in third-world countries reunited on campus last week to reminisce and to celebrate how the experience continues to shape their outlooks. Since 2008, Rhonda J. Seebold, part-time instructor of dental hygiene, has taught classes that concluded with travel to Nicaragua (2008-2015), and Dominican Republic (2016-2024). With a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the 15th class traveled to the Dominican this summer.
Pennsylvania College of Technology dental hygiene students explored a new world of dental care during a summer visit to the Dominican Republic, where they treated more than 250 children in four villages. “I’ve always wanted to travel, so why not travel and do what I love, which is helping other people be able to smile,” said Alexandra M. Shenk, one of four students in the Global Experience: Oral Healthcare Field Experience class.
Before diving into summer, Penn College News takes a look back at a spring semester highlight: the two-week visit by our new friends from Northern Ireland's North West Regional College. The contingent of 12 students and two faculty members visited Penn College early last month. Half of the group is studying cybersecurity at NWRC, with the others focused on engineering.
A group of students and faculty who will soon take part in Global Experience courses in the Dominican Republic gathered recently in Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, where, while getting to know one another, they were treated to a Dominican menu and learned more about the Caribbean nation they soon will visit.
A dozen students from North West Regional College, in Northern Ireland, recently wrapped up a two-week visit to Pennsylvania College of Technology, where they sat in on classes and dove into local culture.
In what has become a fall tradition, College Relations and its "Give Thanks, Paw It Forward" campaign shine a light on the appreciation that Penn College students hold for those who aid their educational journey. Penn College News will share a "Meet the Makers" profile every day this week, starting with nursing student Bryn A. Vargo, of Trout Run.
A few had never flown or been outside of the United States. For some, not even beyond Pennsylvania or any farther south than Virginia. And if any of their good fortunes ever included travel to the Caribbean, that touristy resort experience offered no hint of how revelatory everyday life can be. When they boarded their flight in Philadelphia in June, not even a 16-week preparatory class on their Penn College campus could have adequately prepared them for their imminent awakening in the Dominican Republic.
Students in Pennsylvania College of Technology's dental hygiene program recently traveled to five remote villages in the Dominican Republic, where they provided oral-care services that are not usually easy to access.
Families in the Dominican Republic will receive critically important water filtration systems when 21 Pennsylvania College of Technology students and two faculty members travel there in late spring as part of the institution’s 2023 study-abroad program.
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