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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SGC EuroTrip teaches other cultures, expands students’ horizons The college experience is all about utilizing the learning experience to expand one’s horizons. Nothing else does that quite like the SGC EuroTrip program.In 2003, Dr. Mike Butler started the program, which takes students and community members to various sites around Europe each summer. “We’ve traveled every year since 2003. The running total so far is 62 students who have attended SGC and gone on to the University of Georgia, Valdosta State University, Georgia Southern, Armstrong Atlantic, graduate and pharmacy schools and 31 adults from the local community. Seventeen people have gone on more than one trip. That's pretty amazing for a school the size of SGC,” said Dr. Butler. The tours have visited a variety of European nations, including France, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Travelers have visited some of the most historic cities on the continent: Paris, London, Dublin, Belfast, Amsterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Venice, Florence, Rome and Athens. Dr. Butler said he started the program because there was no other travel abroad program like it on campus. It’s something he knew would make a big difference on the students who went, and he wanted to share the experience of traveling overseas with students and community members alike. “I didn't have this opportunity when I was a community college student. If I would have had the opportunity, I could have broadened my horizons,” said Dr. Butler. The trips have done that very thing for at least one student. Ryan Hutchison went on his first EuroTrip in 2006. That year, the group went to Northern Ireland and Scotland. They visited the cities of Dublin, Edinburgh and Belfast. From that first trip, Hutchison was hooked. “I really enjoyed it. It was amazing,” he said. “I couldn’t think of anything better to do.” In 2006, he was a student at SGC. By the time the trip rolled around the next year, he had transferred to Valdosta State University. But he hadn’t forgotten EuroTrip. In fact, his experiences on the trips led him to re-think the direction his life was taking. Hutchison declared mass media as his major and is pursuing a minor in international studies. When he graduates from VSU, he said he would like to explore finishing a major in international studies and then combine that with his mass media training. “I love learning about other cultures, and I’d like to something with media and travel,” he said. The 2008 trip toured the classic sites of Italy and Greece. Things began in Florence, where the group spent a day, the highlight of which was seeing Michelangelo's David. From there, they spent two days in Rome. The travelers also visited Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, and ferried across Adriatic Sea to Greece. There, they spent time in Olympia, Delphi, and Athens. The trip finished with three-day cruise of the Greek isles, including Patmos, Crete, Santorini and Mykonos. The tour lasted 13 days, with 16 total days of travel. Hutchison said he found Rome the most interesting of the places the group visited on the ‘08 trip. He mentioned the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica as his favorite spots. “I enjoyed the one-on-one attention from the tour guides. These people know the history and culture surrounding the sites,” he said. EF Educational Tours, the world's largest student travel company, conducted the tour. The company has a strong international presence and offered a reasonable rate to the students. Hutchison agreed. “It was a very unique experience. The tour was cheap, easy and fun,” he said.
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# # # # About South Georgia College South Georgia College (www.sgc.edu) was founded in 1906 and is a two-year institution in the University System of Georgia. Located in Douglas, Ga., the college's environment gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty.
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