On a late October afternoon, a dozen students gather around tables bedecked with brilliant photos of far-away lands. They walk around leisurely, chatting and munching on brownies and sweets. A group of students flip through a colorful scrapbook, laughing at pictures and recounting fond memories of their study-abroad experiences. This meeting is one of the first for the Cultural Connections Club, a brand new club on campus that unites students in their love of experiencing other cultures.

Most students who return from a study-abroad experience at Ithaca College say that it was one of the most rewarding, enjoyable, and unforgettable of their lives. With the idea of launching a club that would allow students to share these experiences with one another and other students considering study abroad, the Office of International Programs began approaching students returning from study-abroad programs last spring.

Four culturally savvy ladies stepped up to the challenge. Liz Wetmore ‘09, a physical therapy major, spearheaded the effort after studying in Australia for a semester. She and Katie Mosher ’08, a cinema and photography major, became the club’s copresidents. Melissa Blitzstein ’08, an English major, is the treasurer, and Malorie Winne ’08, a politics major, is the secretary.

“I joined up with Liz because after studying abroad, this club seemed like a great way to encourage others to do it too because it was the best experience of my life,” Mosher says, who studied in Australia during the spring semester of her junior year and twice in Florence, Italy, for the past two summers.

Blitzstein studied in London during the fall semester of her junior year. “I joined because I could talk about studying abroad all day,” she says. Winne, who studied in Salamanca, Spain, during the fall semester of her junior year, is pursuing minors in Latin American studies and Spanish.

 “I like traveling and learning about different cultures, so this club was perfect to expand my knowledge,” she says.

The club has attracted many students who are considering study abroad, including some freshmen. Wetmore says that talking to other people who studied abroad in Australia before she went there herself really helped her prepare for the trip. She says others’ recommendations for places to see, things to do, and people to visit, including locals they’d befriended, were very helpful.

“That’s one of the big advantages of the club: networking,” she says. “It can be really intimidating living in another country on your own, so by talking to people beforehand you’ll feel more prepared and you can just jump right in.”

Though the club has just begun, Wetmore says the club has interest from about 40 students, and so far they’ve already hosted a few activities that are geared not only to chatting about their study-abroad experiences, but also to discussing international issues and cultural topics.

The club has watched and discussed the film Born into Brothels, a documentary about the red-light district in Calcutta, India. They also marked the International Day of Peace with a viewing of Peace One Day, a film about Jeremy Gilley, who worked to persuade the United Nations to sanction a day of international ceasefire—a global day of peace. 

On another night club members dined at Ithaca’s New Delhi Diamond’s restaurant for an evening of Indian food just for fun. 

“We do little things like trying new foods to enjoy the differences of the world,” Winne says.

Although launching a new club is difficult, Wetmore says that the students who have attended the first few meetings have had fun. Rachel Cullenen, study abroad director in the Office of International Programs, agrees that the club is off to a successful start.

“It’s exciting to see the energy and enthusiasm these girls bring to the programs,” Cullenen says.

Looking ahead, the executive board has lofty ambitions for the Cultural Connections Club. Among many goals, they hope to do more cooperative programs with the International Club, arrange long weekend trips to cities such as Montreal, produce stories of study-abroad and travel trips from students’ experiences, and cosponsor an international trip with Alternative Spring Break, a volunteer opportunity for students.

“At this early point the possibilities are endless,” Wetmore says.

Contact Liz Wetmore for more information about the club: ewetmor1@ithaca.edu