Immersion Trip to Greece Shows Students New Cultures
International trips have been a long-standing tradition at Kettering College. Elective rotations and mission trips were created to serve others internationally, but Professor Tuta Ionescu, Radiologic Technology Chair, had the idea of creating an international trip for students to focus solely on cultural immersion.
Ionescu says, “When students graduate to begin their healthcare careers, they soon realize they haven’t been exposed to many other cultures.” She states this exposure is important since they will be serving patients from a wide range of backgrounds. The goal of this trip was to show students how diverse and different the world is beyond their own small circles.
Travel tends to push people out of their comfort zones, and Ionescu admits this is precisely what she wanted to do with students. A goal of a cultural immersion trip such as this one to Greece is for students to experience how it feels to be the outsider, so when they one day serve a patient from a different culture or faith, they will embrace it and feel comfortable.
One student traveler said, “You learn more about other cultures by experiencing them in real life. Traveling internationally allows the opportunity to better understand how to treat diverse patients.”
After learning about the trip, students said they wanted family members to join the trip as well. Ionescu said, “We decided to open it up to everyone since Covid was so wicked to us all, and we can finally travel again.”
Students and faculty from nursing, radiology, human biology, respiratory therapy, sonography, and pre-PA studies attended the trip, totaling 48 travelers. The group had an extremely busy itinerary, which included places such as Santorini, Athens, and Olympia.
The trip attendees agree the Greek culture and people provided an enriching learning experience. From hearing languages from all over the world to trying to new foods and seeing new places, our group learned we are all different yet similar, and we always have more to learn and be curious about.
One student says, “I’m grateful to have this experience as a student. I’ve experienced different cultures and learned things I would not have if I didn’t have this opportunity.”
Ionescu adds that she also wanted students to experience other religions. She says, “Although we are a faith-based Seventh-day Adventist college, there is a world of people of different faiths who we need to love. We can still focus on a greater being together—we all belong to someone bigger than us. We need to remember this to unite us.”
Another student adds, “You cannot leave a country like Greece, with such a rich and well documented history, without some growth in spirituality. God’s presence extends beyond all borders and creeds.”
The trip proved to be a successful cultural immersion experience for our students, faculty, and their families. Strong friendships formed among the group as they all looked out for each other during long, fast-paced days over the span of two weeks of traveling.
Proposing an international trip focused on learning about diverse cultures by being surrounded by them was an idea Tuta Ionescu imagined would help students see beyond themselves. Everyone in the group agrees it was a trip that provided valuable learning beyond the classroom. By pushing people to first feel the discomfort of differences, it helped them develop empathy and understanding for how their future patients might feel if they are from somewhere else.
We are proud to offer these opportunities to students to enhance their academic curriculum and expand their capacity to care for others far beyond their own communities. Professor Ionescu’s innovation reminds us we must all continue to create new opportunities to grow our students into future healthcare providers who serve others with love, compassion, and understanding.
(All Photos Courtesy of Tuta Ionescu)
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