Happy Yappy

I’ll be honest…when I began my walk through Burwell Parlors last March to explore my options for the John Belk International Program for my Junior year, I had no idea where I wanted to go. I walked in and browsed my way through a few tables and tri-folds for places like Spain and Morocco, Brazil, India and Nepal, as well as various Language Immersion sites, just sort of window shopping my way around until something jumped out at me.

As I passed by another meaningless table, I looked up and saw Dr. Pillar sporting a very classy Hawaiian button-up shirt. I was intrigued. I had seen Dr. Pillar around before, but had never formally met him, and standing with him on the other side of the tri-fold was Dr. Perkins, who was also dressed in a very casual, island-like manner. There was something different about this place already. Just a few steps ahead of me, Ryan Cook, walked up to table. I almost kept walking, but thankfully was still intrigued enough by this enigmatic duo of chaperones that I continued to the table and began to listen to the two professors as they spoke to Cook and myself about a small island called Yap. I had only heard of Yap very recently as it had come up in discussion with some upperclassmen who traveled there the year prior.

The map on the tri-fold placed Yap on the other side of the world and there was something about such a foreign place that captivated me. Not only was I looking to literally expand my horizons to the utmost, but I was also genuinely fascinated by the pictures on the board too. As Amy phrased it, it was very much an “untamed” beauty. It was the serene beaches, tropical forests, and beautiful water that one would expect to see at a big, fancy resort in a tourist hot spot, but in these pictures there were no grand hotels or lavish resorts. And even later that evening after having left the event, I looked up more pictures and information about this mysterious island and was impressed to learn that in fact it was a very untouched and unaltered island with a culture to match. Dr. Pillar and Dr. Perkins had also informed us that this project was also a service trip, which at the time didn’t really mean much to me, but now, I am glad that on this trip I will also have the opportunity to give back to others.

Today, halfway into the semester and our class, I am even more excited about the travels that await us in May. I have not only grown to be fond of Perkins and Pillar, but also could not have picked a better group of students to travel with. From classroom discussions to our endeavors during our retreat, I am consistently reminded of how lucky I am to be in this group. I actually look forward to learning more and more about this mysterious island culture that will inevitably change my life come May.