Nicaragua
April 14, 2016
GC baseball to spend May term in Nicaragua
The demanding schedule of athletics often gets in the way of student athletes who want to do a semester-long SST, but this May Term, the GC baseball team has the opportunity to get around that. Sort of. Led by Maria Sanchez Schirch, professor of Spanish, and Doug Schirch, professor of chemistry, members of the baseball team will be traveling to Nicaragua for the three weeks of May Term. This is the first time the college has offered something like this, and if the program goes well, it may be opened to other teams. “This option gives athletes the opportunity to...
October 1, 2015
GC baseball to travel to Nicaragua
For the first time in history, the Goshen College baseball team will be embarking on a trip to Nicaragua. This trip is exclusive to the baseball team in which 27 players will be staying with host families, just as students do on a full semester of a Study-Service Term. This trip to Nicaragua is considered half of a Study Service Term. The players will not only experience new culture; they will also get credit for this trip. Each member of the baseball team will be paired with a host family in which one person of that family has some relation...
March 25, 2015
May Term opportunity for athletes
A new class is available for May term 2016 called Study/Sports in Nicaragua. The class will be available to members of the Goshen College baseball team. The idea for the course came from Doug Schirch, chair of the chemistry department. “I’ve known for a long time that it’s hard for students in baseball and softball to do SST or even other May term off-campus courses because their season ends partway into May term,” said Schirch. Schirch, who is on the International Education Committee, said that they received a request for summer SST courses to start a week later so baseball...
November 13, 2014
Nicaragua Returns As SST Option
The Nicaragua Study-Service Term unit is back on the schedule for this summer. The Nicaragua SST unit for this summer was previously cancelled; however, due to students being adversely affected by the cancellation, it was brought back. According to Tom Meyers, director of international education, the previous cancellation meant class conflicts for some students, which would have altered their graduation dates. According to Meyers, this summer’s unit will be financially stable due to the number of students enrolled in units this summer; however after this summer the Nicaragua SST destination will be put on hold until overall enrollment in the...
November 8, 2013
Students plan alternatives after SST units canceled
Students planning to spend study abroad semesters through Goshen College’s Study-Service Term in Morocco during fall 2014 and in Nicaragua during summer 2015 are rearranging their plans after hearing that those options have been canceled. Tom Meyers, director of international education, visited students preparing for Morocco SST during their prerequisite Arabic class taught by Paul Keim, professor of Bible and religion, on October 24. Meyers told the class that the SST program in Morocco would be canceled in fall 2014 due to low enrollment. “Given the college’s precarious financial situation with lower enrollments, we simply can’t afford a unit with...
October 27, 2010
Hawkins anticipates second trip to visit SST host family
Like many Goshen College students, fifth-year senior Alli Hawkins completed her Study-Service Term in Nicaragua the summer before her junior year. Unlike many students, however, since leaving the country just over two years ago, Hawkins has already returned once and will return yet again on November 17th for the wedding of her host sister, Rosaly. Lead by Professor of Chemistry Doug Schirch and his wife Maria, Hawkins’ SST in the summer of 2008 lasted 12 weeks. Following the general SST format, Hawkins spent the first six weeks studying in a city called Jinotepe and the last six weeks on service in...