EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Lessons from the Scavenger Hunt

Friday, June 23, 2017

Lessons from the Scavenger Hunt

During this last week in Crete we did a scavenger hunt around the village. The previous weekend we did one in Rhodes around the Old City and the competition was at all time high as the blue and gold teams battled to be reigned champion. The scavenger hunt we did in Crete had a completely different vibe as winning was the goal of all team members, but it was behind the other goal of team work.

I was part of the blue team and our strategy was to divide and conquer for both hunts, in the ended we reigned victorious, but the point was not to win the hunt. As we were finishing to meet our team back at the institute; Star, Megan, and I were running up the hill to the sounds of the rest of our classmates hollering and yelling. As we were running up the hill, we had seen the yellow team members as they were in the same situation as the three of us. While we were running up the hill we spotted Dylan, the yellow team captain making his way up right behind us.We then realized at that moment that waiting for the other team to finish at the same time and calling it a tie was better than winning. After we all had walked up victorious, we greeted Petros, showed him all our pictures and everyone was pleased with the result.

This reason I decide to write about a silly scavenger hunt rather than the an army base is because over the past month a lot of what we've done as a group has required patience from each other. Even what we learn about in class leading to discussions allows people to share their opinions and there's almost always other people to back up their argument.

On this trip, I've learned the value of patience and being more considerate. I've personally learned a lot of this from Peters: the man, myth, and legend. He has demonstrated a remarkable amount of patience in times where we can get rowdy, tired, moody, and temperamental, but he is still able to manage us as a unit. I think that patience is valuable to have, and I’m glad I was able to learn that here in this place, with these people, and under the wing of Petros. I assume that I am speaking for the entirety of the group, but being here has been an amazing experience, but because of the people who put this together that is why we are able to do have done all we wanted.

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EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.