Patricia Burke-Hickey Introduces Global Initiative Programs at Morning Assembly

By SAM ALTMAN, ERIN HAN, JINMIN LEE, AARYAN PATEL, and LEVI STOLL

On Oct. 29, Director of Global Initiatives Patty Burke Hickey took the assembly stage. After introducing the programs Exeter offers over each vacation and during the school year, Burke invited students who attended Global Initiatives programs to share their experiences on stage. In the evening, leaders of Global Initiative programs set up booths in Powell Hall in the Forrestal-Bowld Music Building for a Q&A session with interested students. 

Ranging from the Washington Intern Program to a term abroad in Kyoto, Japan, the Global Initiatives programs at Exeter seek to provide Exonians with an opportunity to visit and experience their fields of study in real life. 

Sharing last year’s statistics, Burke said, “Last year, 453 students and 67 adults traveled off campus, whether it was one-term programs, break programs, or preseason sports trips. It’s exciting to think about this – all the opportunities for students to travel with one another and learn in different ways, whether it’s improving their language skills or learning about the history and culture of a particular place, like Morocco or India.”

Burke explained how the Office of Global Initiatives collaborates with other schools to create term abroad programs. “We have longstanding relationships with some of the schools that Exonians attend while studying abroad. For instance, we’ve worked with our school in Germany for many, many years. However, we are also open to trying newer locations. The modern languages department does the legwork of investigating schools that will be suitable learning environments for our students. For example, we just moved our Japan term program from Tokyo to Kyoto.”

Additionally, Burke described the funding system for the programs. “All of the term abroad programs use students’ tuition. For instance, if somebody goes on to France, their tuition dollars and their financial aid go with them.”

The assembly received much support from students interested in the offerings. “This assembly has informed me about the term abroad in Germany,” said upper Nathi Lomax. “It has encouraged me to transition from Latin to German, especially after I heard great things about the study abroad program.” 

“I was very impressed by the variety that Exeter has to offer. It’s incredible that students can go anywhere from the Mountain School to Germany to School Year Abroad to the Bahamas,” lower Holden Sage-Murillo said.

“I had heard about some of the Global Initiatives, but I didn’t know there were so many options until this assembly,” lower Crane Lee agreed. “I am most interested in experiencing a new culture in the Kyoto program.” 

Lower Grant Blitz added, “I think that being able to live in a new place and learn and do something that I am interested in. My favorite one they talked about was the finance internship.”

Sage-Murillo continued, “As a German student, I was very excited for the Göttingen trip after learning about it, and I suspect that’s the same for all language students who are passionate about their studies. I really like the idea of being immersed in an actual school because I would be able to learn new German slang and get a holistic view of the culture.”

Senior Jacques Leleux, who will be traveling to Washington, D.C. in the spring discussed why he decided to apply to the Washington Intern Program. “I applied to the Washington Intern Program to have the ability to make a difference. Even if it’s just answering phone calls or helping around the office, the opportunity to be in a place where our world is actually changing and responses are being made is something that drew me.”

Leleux continued, “I also went on a trip to Morocco last summer where I was forced to get out of my bubble and make friends that have lasted to today. I think these trips are tremendously important and they should absolutely advertise and support them at assembly.”

The Academy also offers many summer internships, both in-person and virtual, ranging from programs in finance to medicine. “I think the internships are really cool because they give us opportunities to learn about things we are interested in and actually do them,” Lee said. “One of my favorite internships they showed was the optometry program.”

However, concerns about the logistics of the programs rose. “I am a little concerned with living with a host family, but I think based on all of the students’ experiences that were shared at Assembly, it seems that the hosts are very supportive and caring,” explained Lee.

“I was concerned that I would need to take classes at Exeter before going to some of the internship opportunities they have, but the students cleared that up and showed me that I don’t need any prior knowledge,” Blitz agreed.

Additionally, students shared that they appreciate how these trips transplant the Exeter community into exciting new environments, bringing familiar bonds into fresh settings. 

Upper Anna Rissi recalled, “I went to the Concert Choir’s Puerto Rico trip in my lower year and had a lot of fun. It’s a great experience to get away from campus, with the people that you know on campus.” 

Rissi, who will also be attending the choir’s trip to Italy next March, noted her hopes for the experience. “Honestly I’m just really excited to sing. In Puerto Rico, I definitely had these moments in concerts when I really felt like the music was coming together. Having those moments especially while singing in a really ‘grand-feeling’ place is something that I really am looking forward to on this trip.”

Upper Sophie Yu, who traveled to Berlin this past summer to study entrepreneurship, shared that her trip was an exciting opportunity to grow closer as Exonians. “Throughout the trip it felt as though I was just bonding with people I don’t typically talk to at school since I didn’t apply with a friend or anything like that.” 

She continued, “It was kind of like dipping my feet in the water a little bit because I hadn’t taken any previous classes on entrepreneurship. It’s just something I was slightly interested in, so I thought it would be really cool to pair that interest with going to a new place, and traveling and exploring with peers from Exeter who I don’t typically talk to.”

Senior Ali Benson echoed this sentiment as a past attendee of the term-long Mountain School program. “What I loved most about The Mountain School was the connections I made. I have always had trouble fitting in - from middle school to Phillips Exeter Academy - but The Mountain School was different.” 

She elaborated, “At PEA, life moves so fast, but The Mountain School was like a deep breath. It was a chance to center myself and notice the subtle interactions between humans and the earth, and how everything’s connected. I won’t say that The Mountain School changed me, it just helped me find myself again.”

With dozens of programs from terms abroad in France to a week at Yellowstone National Park, the Global Initiatives office is constantly working to expand Exonians’ experiences to every corner of the world. “It’s a really unique thing that Global Initiatives offers,” Rissi concluded,  “— to take you with these people you know from Exeter to a completely different place, somewhere outside of anything like Exeter.”