Study-Service TermGoshen College’s Study-Service Term is one of the quintessential aspects of the institution. Follow our coverage as the program changes and grows.
Goshen College’s Study-Service Term is one of the quintessential aspects of the institution. Follow our coverage as the program changes and grows.
March 9, 2017
SSTT unit set for June 2017
Out of the 46 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors that applied for the Study-Service Theology Term, 20 of them will be traveling to Guatemala in June 2017 for the programs’ first term. Before leaving for Guatemala, the students will stay on campus for two days of orientation led by Jo-Ann Brant, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy. After orientation on campus, the students will travel to Guatemala under the direction of Keith Graber Miller, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy, Ann Graber Miller, Peter Paetkau, senior, and Gloria Showalter, recent GC alum. The SSTT group will spend just over...
March 9, 2017
Weaver reflects on beginnings of SST
Over 89 years, Hank Weaver has visited more than 100 countries. He’s been to each continent, including Antarctica. He’s traveled for business and pleasure, for long-term and short. In 1957, Weaver began working at Goshen College, which opened a whole new world of opportunities. He worked at the college for over 22 years, as a chemistry professor, provost and interim president. After six years of working as a chemistry professor at Goshen College, Weaver decided to spend a year abroad in Peru through the Ford Foundation. With his family, Weaver moved to Lima where he taught at the oldest university...
November 10, 2016
Peru SST coordinator visits Goshen
Peru SST coordinator Celia Vasquez and her husband, Oswaldo Aguirre, made the flight from Peru to the Midwest to experience the Goshen area, speak in several classes, and reconnect with old acquaintances. This was Vasquez’s first visit to Goshen in over 10 years, and Aguirre’s first time out of his home country. While visiting, Vasquez and Aguirre partook in a number of activities around the Goshen area, as well as some day trips to nearby sites of interest, such as Lake Michigan. Their visit also fell during an exciting time to experience an American pastime at its peak, as they...
October 13, 2016
Introduction of Study-Service Theology Term
Goshen College is inviting 20 Latino and African-American high school students from Christian denominations across the United States to take part in a two-week Study-Service Theology Term. The first SSTT will take place in June 2017, when Keith Graber Miller, a professor of Bible, religion and philosophy, will lead the study and travel in Guatemala. The Lilly Endowment invited Goshen College to submit a proposal for a program involving high schools across the U.S. to motivate students to consider working in the church. “All Christian congregations across the country right now have a shortage of pastors,” said Graber Miller, “so...
April 14, 2016
SST units return from Peru, Cambodia
[caption id="attachment_32846" align="alignright" width="350"] The spring 2016 SST unit poses for a group photo. They returned April 5.Photo by Sadie Gustafsson-Zook[/caption] Last week, the Spring SST units from Cambodia and Peru made the return to Goshen College after 3 months of learning, serving and living in another country. Students in Cambodia, a southeast Asian country nestled between Thailand and Vietnam, spent the first half of their Study-Service Term in Phnom Penh, the capitol city. Students took classes for the first six weeks at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, growing accustomed to the language and culture while learning about the...
January 14, 2016
SSTT to provide international experience to high schoolers
Goshen College received $600,000 from the Lilly Endowment Foundation in early December to establish a Study-Service Theology Term. Starting in the summer of 2017, this offshoot of GC’s nationally recognized Study-Service Term program will provide a group of 20 diverse high school students interested in theology and ministry with an opportunity to study for two weeks in Guatemala or another Latin American country. Upon returning, the students will be required to do service within a congregation or church-related organization. Priority will be given to high school junior and senior students from the Latino and African-American communities, either locally or from...
November 5, 2015
SST Coordinator visits Goshen for first time
Today, Wilfred Villavicencio, the in-country service coordinator for the Peru SST program, ended his three week visit to the U.S. and Goshen College’s campus. During his visit, he spent time reconnecting with past SSTers and their leaders, exploring the area as it was his first time in the U.S., and giving a convocation this past Monday about his experience working with Goshen College students. “My goal is to understand the culture and the life here on campus,” said Villavicencio. “I work in Peru for students and I know my country, but I want to learn more about [Goshen].” Before his...
September 17, 2015
Finding ground in the study abroad reverie
“Here I felt like I was all eyes, seeing scenes in swatches of color I was unable to interpret.” -from Tangled Paths, an SST stories submission by Leah Nofziger, ‘94 Goshen College alumna. Often, when the question “How was your SST?” is asked, it is followed with an uncomfortable smile and a terse reply of “good.” Sometimes the experience is summarized with a generic “I went to Machu Picchu” picture. Goshen College’s Study Service Term creates an immeasurable amount of stories, from studying in Cambodia to serving in Peru. These experiences can be quite difficult to express and it’s frequently...
April 16, 2015
Peru SST returns to GC
Spring is the season of new beginnings, of budding flowers, perfect sunny days, ultimate Frisbee on the KMY lawn and allergies. It is also the season of the return of the SSTers. On the 7th of April 2015, Goshen College welcomed back the students who spent their semester studying abroad in Peru. The students included: Ammon Allen-Doucot, Elizabeth Franks-North, Maria Bischoff, Christian Bechler, Ike Lehman, Micah Wiebe-Powell, Leah Ramer, Joanna Epp, and Courtney Featherstone. This group was led by Duane and Karen Stoltzfus. “SST was a lot. It was a lot of learning, a lot of stressing, a lot of laughing...
January 29, 2015
Study Service Term transforms over time
The Study Service Term (SST) program at Goshen College has developed since its beginning in 1968. Since then, there have been 24 different service locations to which Goshen students have travelled, with earlier locations including Cuba, Mali and Poland. The available SST locations have changed over time for various reasons. “Costa Rica was an SST location for 20 years,” said Tom Myers, director of international education. Likewise, the SST location in the Dominican Republic was an option for students for almost 30 years. Both of these locations were removed as options because “families need a break from hosting students...
January 29, 2015
The story behind SST stories
There is currently a call out and about Goshen College for Study Service Term stories from Goshen students and alumni from all countries, ages, and walks of life. It’s called the SST Stories Project. Each submitting author must have been impacted by Goshen College’s SST program, which is nearing its fiftieth year. These stories can be short or long, funny or serious, complicated or simple, as long as they are submitted by the project’s deadline of March 1st. Kate Stoltzfus, a 2014 GC graduate, created this stories project because of her impactful experiences regarding SST. Kate’s father, Dwayne Stoltzfus,...
January 29, 2015
Convocation goes to China
Today's convocation from the fall 2014 China SST group began with pictures—some humorous, some sobering, and all depicting a culture widely different than our own. The students wanted to present their experience in China in the most real way possible, using different presenters and stories to highlight the good, the bad and the confusing. They began by explaining the start of SST in Nanchong, where they studied the language, art and culture of the Sichuan Chinese. They even got to learn how to navigate traffic-crowded streets, some with more success than others. The students then presented their service...
January 29, 2015
New convocation credit options
Select sporting events may be a new option for convocation credit. With the new convocation format this year, students have been offered convocation credit for going to special events on campus. Up until now, these events have been mostly arts and science events. In an attempt to add more diversity, the idea of allowing convo credit for select sporting events was introduced. Beverly Lapp, professor of music and member of the convocation planning committee, said that the idea behind the new convocation style and additional events is to expand interest in other areas of campus. “We were concerned for diversity...
January 29, 2015
SST requirements change for GC transfer students
For most Goshen College students, Study Service Term is one of the defining experiences of their time at Goshen College. Students who transfer to GC, however, have a difficult time fitting in the three-month long study abroad opportunity amongst the other Core requirements. New changes, active for the fall of 2015, will try to make this credit and time requirement a bit more manageable for transfer students. The changes were approved by faculty vote on January 15th and will be active for students who transfer beginning in the fall of next year. The changes reduce the credit load on...
January 15, 2015
SST experience: serving World Vision
Briziada, 5 years old, makes a two-hour trek down a mountain in Ausangate with her 4 siblings and parents to the area World Vision project office. At the same time, Frances Fonseca, Goshen College second-year, stomach filled with butterflies, bumps along the three hour ride between that office and her host home in Cuzco. Fonseca, on Peru SST, was spending the six-week service portion working for World Vision. World Vision is a Christian nonprofit that began in the 1950s and focuses on the well being of children around the world. The organization uses a sponsorship system to raise money that...