The Experience of a LifetimeHaley Meents

Department of Fine Arts, Carthage College

Celebration of Scholars 2014: Exposition of Student & Faculty Research, Scholarship &Creativity

Results and DiscussionOne of the things that struck me most about the people was that they are all so alive. They

spend all day, every day working to make sure that they have enough - and many still go

without - but they were so grateful anyway. They appreciated everything so much more

because they don’t have a lot and I was incredibly humbled to see just how happy they are

with so much less than I have. Most of my unforgettable moments from this trip would never

have been possible without the kindness of the Dominican people who were so pleased to

show us their beautiful country and I could never thank them enough for everything they

gave me. I came away from this trip most of all with a greater sense of humility and

gratitude. I came to realize that most of the things I take for granted every day are luxuries.

Running water, laundry machines, food, electricity, cars, education, the list goes on and on. I

never thought myself an ignorant or inconsiderate person but after this trip I can definitely

say that I am more aware of the gifts I have been given. It’s one thing to be told about the

struggles in another country and an entirely different thing to see them firsthand. It really

made me open my eyes to how much I actually have.

AbstractIn January of 2014, my Explorations Beyond Tourism class went to the Dominican Republic

to document and explore the culture through the lens of a camera. Professors Kari Duffy and

Matt Borden accompanied our class and Professor Paul Chilsen assisted from home to make

sure that we had adequate support. Because the Dominican Republic has a high tourism rate,

the idea of the trip was to document the real culture and to interview the natives to try and

see beyond what tourists see. We filmed our journey and each of my classmates produced a

film to explain some aspect of the culture. My film explores the enormous change I

underwent upon encountering the Dominican people; from the differences in our culture to

experiencing the kindness and enthusiasm that Dominicans have for life, and lack of

materialism. Through this J-Term trip, I was able to learn a lot about a foreign culture but

even more about myself and as I said in the film, “…I will be reminded of my newfound

humility and gratitude every time I turn on the sink, wash my clothes, boot up my laptop or

walk into a classroom. So maybe instead of thinking this as an ending, I could like at this like

a new journey.” Please view my entire film at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2NW-x_cTcY&feature=youtu.be

IntroductionThis January I had the incredible opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic for two

weeks to study and film the culture with a class of 15 other students and 2 professors. We

traveled all over the Dominican Republic, saw breathtaking scenery, and did unbelievable

things that I will never forget, but hands down my favorite thing about this trip was the

people.

ExperimentalThe primary equipment used during the trip were camcorders, tripods, microphones, and editing

software Final Cut Pro. Our process involved interviewing native Dominicans to try and understand

their culture on a deeper level than most tourists are able to see. A majority of these interviews were

conducted largely in Spanish with our own knowledge of the language or the assistance of Professor

Borden.

AcknowledgementsA special thanks goes to my faculty advisors Professors Borden, Duffy, and Chilsen. Your diligence, patience, and

hard work made this one of the greatest experiences of my life. I would also like to thank each of my classmates:

Merry Gilly, Alex Farley, Emmy Brown, Nicholas Cottrell, Kelly West, Kelly VanBoldrik, Mandy Jansen, Amanda

Boothe, Ellie Nicol, Gina Sipka, Sean Rogers, Ilana Brooks, Michelle Pisowodzki, Abigail Smallwood, Stefanie

Constantine. Thank you all for making this experience one of the most impactful, amazing months of my life and

assisting with capturing incredible footage.