Written by: Ashlyn Willis
Walking into the first day of classes was rough; it was a quick and immediate turnaround from the nine hour flight and four hour bus ride from Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta to Frankfurt, Germany, and finally to Metz, France. Furthermore, there was no masking the fact that it was indeed at its core, school. However, soon after the first week of classes I was quick to count my blessings. I have made several friends enrolled in classes like computer science, math, and more, and although I am a science major as well, I am using this summer as an opportunity to complete my free-elective credits. I therefore strategically designed what I deem to be a spectacular schedule:
Monday and Wednesday
10:25 am – 12:20 pm: History, Science, and Technology
Tuesday and Thursday
10:25 am – 12:20 pm: Creative Writing
1:30 pm – 3:25 pm: Documentary Film
(On Tuesdays, the occasional 6 pm – 8 pm GTE 2000 lecture as well)
I was able to choose classes I was passionate about, rather than ones I directly needed for my major of environmental science. Because of this, I have been able to take what feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air after my first year academic experience completing core classes at Georgia Tech. I am incredibly passionate about history and the arts, and given that I am a person who is motivated for schoolwork when I am interested about the subject, I was incredibly grateful to be able to take these classes. Furthermore, I was unaware of the fact that many of my GTE classes would overlap in content. In GTE 2000 and field trips to the local Metz museum with Creative Writing, we discussed ancient Roman architecture and its impact on the region.
Images of Roman baths and carvings in the Museum of La Cour d’Or based here in Metz, France.
In History, Science, and Technology, and another outing with Creative Writing to the Gare de Metz, we discussed architecture choices and Gothic builds. In Documentary Film, we covered how to conduct a good interview, of which I will be doing with peers for this very task as a GTE blogger! (Another shout-out to Creative Writing, as the overarching focus of the class for this summer is travel writing…convenient with helping me to better my skills in writing blogs!) Not to mention, these classes have helped me appreciate my travels even more. Up to this point, I have utilized my weekends to visit Luxembourg, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava; all places with diverse and rich histories. Given the subjects of my classes, I have been able to notice certain things with different cities that I may not have fully understood before. For example, in my GTE 2000 class, we learned how the use of flying buttresses in Gothic architecture helped to raise ceilings so much higher than before, lending way for the massive cathedrals found all across Europe. In visiting Vienna, I was able to see a magnificent example of this with St. Stephen’s Cathedral; a towering build with the most intricate designs I had ever seen. In my History class as well, we have an individual project for our case studies to present to the class, and I chose to discuss building Gothic architecture, a topic which I now feel quite knowledgeable in due to these classes.
Images from inside and outside St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria, showcasing its towering ceilings and spires.
The experience of being able to travel to learn more about our topics has been incredibly beneficial to deepening my appreciation for both my classes as well as for weekend trips. I have also found myself doing research on different places in an attempt to learn more about what I will be seeing. For instance, it was interesting to note how both the city of Luxembourg and Bratislava were somewhat built into cliffs as fortifications. Both were cities that I had not known too much about before visiting, and in reading about them, I was able to gain a better appreciation and understanding for their impressive construction. Taking these humanities classes has helped me to realize there should never be a lack of underappreciation of all that they have to offer; you’ll never know how the things you gain from them could help you appreciate more of the world we live in and all the unique perspectives there are!
Views from Bratislava, Slovakia and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg showcasing their fortress-like build.