Category: Academic Year

Academic Year, May Term, Semester, Summer

Study Abroad 2003-2004

During the 2003-2004 academic year, 72 Hampden-Sydney students studied abroad in 11 different countries. The length of study ran from a full academic year to May Term courses and ranged from Europe to Central America to Australia and New Zealand. On September 2, many of the participants gathered in the Parents & Friends Lounge and several shared stories of their adventures. G. W. Zuban ’06 of Chesterfield, VA, studied at University of St. Andrews, Scotland, for the Spring Semester 2004. G.W. chose St. Andrews because of its solid academic reputation and it because is substantially larger than Hampden-Sydney College but […]

Academic Year

Some Sacred and Profane Memories – A Year at Oxford

Text of a Speech Delivered on Sept. 2, 2004, Parents & Friends Lounge by Jordan H. Gaul, IV ’05 In the words of the old Sammy Cahn song, “It’s nice to go travelin’, but it’s oh, so nice to come home.”  It’s great to be back at Hampden-Sydney, and I’d like to tell you some of my general impressions about the value of a foreign study program. I grew up on the banks of the Brandywine River, in Downingtown, Pennsylvania – about an hour’s drive outside of Philadelphia.  Downingtown is located someplace in that indefinite swath of farmland where the […]

Academic Year

Cead Mile Failte from Scotland

A Year in Scotland by Forrest W. Smith ’05 (Forrest climbing Ben Lomond) Cead Mile Failte This is a Gaelic greeting that means one hundred thousand welcomes. That’s just what you get when you’re in Scotland. Everything about this country is beautiful, the people, culture, and landscape. When I first arrived in Edinburgh it was the last day of the Edinburgh festival. IFSA Butler had put us in the Roxburgh Hotel, which is a four star hotel. My room happened to be in the older building, and had a very mid 1900s feel to it. Suffice it to say that […]

Academic Year, May Term, Other experiences, Semester, Summer

An incredible experience

On September 6, many of the nearly 60 Hampden-Sydney students who had engaged in international study during the past year gathered to talk about their experiences. Most frequently used expressions: “I would go back in a heart beat,” “It was good for me,” “I made great friends,” “It made me appreciate Hampden-Sydney.” Consensus: the food was so, so; it rains a great deal in the British Isles, much beer and wine was consumed; we learned a lot, and it was an incredible experience. For Hampden-Sydney students who grew up in small towns, one of the greatest adjustments was to city […]