Below follows my sabbatical report of my experiences teaching in Scotland during Fall semester, 2009. This reflection is a required component of my sabbatical.
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ACTIVITIES OF MY SABBATICAL:
My wife, Amy, daughters, Ellie (5) and Annika (3), and I participated in the “Experience Scotland” study abroad program from August 24, 2009 to December 14, 2009. This program was created in 1986 by the University of Wisconsin system. After thriving for many years, the “Wisconsin in Scotland” program has experienced some enrollment difficulties in recent years. As a result, several of the University of Wisconsin schools were eliminated as partner institutions, and the program has sought out other partners that might contribute to the overall mission of the program. In Fall, 2009, Normandale Community College joined the program. My teaching appointment as a part of my sabbatical was the first time a faculty member from Normandale participated in this program.
The “Experience Scotland” program is a residential study abroad program. Students take a full load of general education courses (defined as four 3-credit courses). One of these courses, Scottish Culture and Globalization, is taught by a Scottish faculty member. Another course, British History, is taught by a British faculty member. Other courses are taught by American faculty from partner institutions, which include the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, University of Wisconsin-Superior, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Normandale Community College. Students also may elect to participate connect with a “host family” or complete a supervised internship. Staff include a resident director, academic director, assistant resident director, and chef. During my sabbatical, there were 29 students in the program, 27 of which came from the University of Wisconsin schools and two of which came from Normandale. Besides myself, the other American faculty were Dr. Rex Hanger, Professor of Geology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Dr. Rich Wallace, Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Both Dr. Hanger and Dr. Wallace participated in the program as a part of their normal contractual duties (they were not on sabbatical). Classes typically were held Monday through Thursday, with most weekends being 3-day weekends. There were two extended 4-day weekends and one extended 10-day break.
The program is located in Dalkeith, Scotland, and is housed in “Dalkeith House,” known by locals as “Dalkeith Palace.” Students, faculty, and staff all live together in this house. The property originally was occupied by Dalkeith Castle, which dates back to the 12th century. In 1701, the property was renovated as a palace for the Duke of Buccleuch and his family. The current Duke of Buccleuch still owns the property and leases it to the “Experience Scotland” program. The house is situated on a large estate that contains 300-year-old oak groves and two rivers. Both the house and the estate have a rich history. For example, the Polish Army and Nazi POWs were housed in this location during World War II.
Teaching Activities
Most of my sabbatical work was devoted to preparing, delivering, and evaluating the three courses that I taught as a part of the program: General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and the Psychology of Religion/Spirituality. Each of these courses were offered as 3-credit courses that met twice per week during the semester, with each class lasting 1 hour, 40 minutes.
An atypical aspect of my teaching load during my sabbatical was the small class size in each of my courses. There only were 3, 4, and 9 students in my General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and Psychology of Religion/Spirituality courses, respectively. This posed a unique set of challenges and opportunities. I reconfigured my General Psychology and Abnormal Psychology courses to be more “seminar-style,” allowing for more student input, experiential activities, and discussion. In my General Psychology course, in particular, I decided not to lecture at all during the semester. Instead, I assumed that students would complete their readings and come prepared to discuss their questions and reactions in class. This really was the first time that I have ever given up this amount of control in a course. In my mind, I used this as a trial for teaching General Psychology online, where students also would be held more responsible for self-directed learning. I also developed class sessions where students identified hypotheses about differences in human behavior across Scottish and American cultures. The class then conducted an observational study in which we each observed some aspect of behavior in a local market square. One example of a behavior that we evaluated was the frequency with which individuals drank beverages while walking (as opposed to drinking in a more relaxed fashion, potentially with others). We discussed how such behaviors may differ across cultures and some explanations for such differences (such as the expectations for achievement). During both my General Psychology and Abnormal Psychology courses, I administered oral final exams. I found this to be an excellent assessment strategy that also provided me with unique insights into students’ thinking about the courses.
Teaching in Scotland also offered unusual opportunities to explore the role of culture in human behavior as a part of courses that I offered. In my General Psychology course, I assigned an additional textbook on cross-cultural psychology and offered an extended unit specifically concerning cultural influences on behavior. In my Abnormal Psychology course, I extended coverage of the role of culture in mental illness. To do this, I examined similarities and differences across cultures in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. For example, I often compared the diagnostic criteria used in the United States (as specified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association) with the diagnostic criteria used in other parts of the world (as specified by the International Classification of Diseases, published by the World Health Organization). Students in this course also were required to complete a classroom presentation in which they led a discussion about some cultural issue related to Abnormal Psychology. In my Psychology of Religion/Spirituality course, I developed a unit regarding the influence of culture on religious/spiritual belief and behavior. For example, the class discussed differences in the strength of religious belief and behavior across the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Also, in this course, rather than having a Final exam, students were assigned an integration project in which they reflected on how their travel and course experiences during the semester influenced their religious or spiritual beliefs.
Finally, I also used my sabbatical as an opportunity to “experiment” on different teaching activities. For example, because of my concern that students will not complete their reading assignments in a timely fashion without a certain level of extrinsic motivation, I developed a “Question Journal” assignment for my General Psychology and Abnormal Psychology courses. This assignment asks students to identify questions they have about reading materials in anticipation of class discussion. In contrast, I adapted a “Response Paper” assignment originally developed by Chris Austin, faculty member in Economics at Normandale, for my Psychology of Religion/Spirituality course. This gives students more options for ways to respond to a reading assignment. Because I had several of the same students in both Abnormal Psychology and Psychology of Religion/Spirituality, I could ask about which assignment students preferred and why.
Interactions with Students
In addition to activities specifically related to teaching my courses, my sabbatical appointment also required me to be “on duty” during two weeks of the semester. This included helping to serve breakfast every day during these two weeks and being “on call” on the weekends should any students need special assistance. Only once was I really called upon during my duty assignment. On this occasion, two students approached me with concern about another student who had went away with a local Scotsman to the Isle of Skye. They wondered why she hadn’t returned and couldn’t reach her by telephone. The issue was resolved when she returned to the house a couple of hours later.
I also held two office hours per week during my sabbatical. One of these office hours was held at Blacksmith’s Forge, a pub located in Dalkeith. This office hour provided an excellent opportunity to discuss ideas with students in an informal environment. At least three students attended each of these office hours, and as many as ten attended. Most of the time, students from my courses were most likely to come to this office hour, but often times other students in the program who were not enrolled in my courses also attended. Discussions often focused on topics that originated in my courses, such as the influences of culture on human behavior, mental illness, and the causes of religion/spirituality. At other times, students and I discussed more general issues about the program, such as how the study abroad experience was influencing them and how they anticipated being different upon return to the United States.
Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of my entire sabbatical experience came through the various other informal interactions with my students, my family, and I, as we lived together in the house. It is difficult to put into words what it was like for me to interact so intimately with students on an everyday basis. On a typical day, my family and I would eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together with students. After lunch, we often played pingpong or foosball together. Often times, after my kids went to bed, a couple of students would come up to our flat and play euchre with my wife and me. Throughout the day, we would “bump” into each other, and we would chat about almost any conceivable topic. At various times during the semester, my family, students, and I together learned how to Ceilidh dance, went to a “tea party” (facilitated by my wife); played “duck-duck-gray duck;” carved pumpkins on Halloween; colored together; fed the animals on the estate; played Polly Pockets; went shopping into town together; played “Skittles” together at the oldest pub in Scotland (Skittles is like bowling, except there are no holes for one’s fingers); and shared birthday celebrations. When my wife and I wanted to go out for a date, students would watch our kids. Students and I also privately shared various experiences. Together we visited local sites such as Melrose Abbey, Bowhill Estate, and Roslin Chapel; shared in a “beer tasting” event sponsored by Dr. Wallace; played cards; went to a local football (soccer) game; celebrated Guy Fawkes night by bonfire; discussed books; and went hiking on the estate. To try to take advantage of the living arrangement, I sponsored two “movie nights” in which students and I watched and discussed movies that raised themes discussed in my courses (“Contact” and “Dead Man Walking”). Approximately 15 students attended each of these. The intimacy of sharing daily life with each other led to a variety of rich discussions between students and I about education, family, and the faculty-student relationship.
Interactions with Staff and Other Faculty
The “Experience Scotland” program is largely managed on site by the resident director, Patty Watters, and the academic director, Gary MacDonald. Upon arrival, Ms. Watters and Professor MacDonald met with the American faculty and other staff members to discuss various issues that often come up in a residential study abroad experience, as well as the relevant policies of the program. For instance, there was a strict attendance policy for all courses. If students missed three classes during the semester, their final grade for that course was reduced by one full letter grade. If they missed four classes, their final grade was reduced by two full letter grades. If they missed five, their grade was reduced by three full letter grades. If they missed six, they failed. Absence was defined as being 10 minutes late for class or leaving class early. It also was emphasized during this orientation that faculty under no circumstances should accept or offer an alcoholic beverage to a student. I also interacted with Ms. Watters on many other occasions during the semester. I found Patty to be an exceptionally wise woman, particularly when it came to matters related to student development. At one point during the semester when I was struggling to some extent with the closeness of relationships in the house, Patty and I discussed my role as a faculty member and how I might act professionally while also encouraging appropriate and close relationships with students.
Another meaningful aspect of my sabbatical was the opportunity to interact frequently with faculty from other educational settings and academic disciplines. Drs. Hanger and Wallace shared living space with my family and I during the semester, and we became very familiar with each other. We often discussed pedagogy and the differences between the University of Wisconsin system and Normandale. In particular, both Rex and Rich believed that the faculty’s primary responsibility is to provide instruction. I countered with my belief, largely influenced by discussions at Normandale, that I thought it was the faculty’s responsibility to help students learn. Rex and I also discussed science extensively. As an international expert in Geology, Rex taught me a lot about rocks, volcanoes, farming, and global climate change. He also helped my daughter, Ellie, with a rock collection that inspired many visits to local beaches. Finally, Rex raised many questions about the methods of Psychology and emphasized the importance of a scientific worldview. He was skeptical of theory that was based more on personal opinion than empirical data.
Personal Activities
Living in Scotland for a semester provided my family and I an abundance of opportunities to explore a different part of the world. Most of this occurred in Dalkeith. We often would go for walks around the estate, feed the animals, or go to the “Adventure Playground” that is located near Dalkeith House. We also would often walk into town, go shopping, have some tea and scones, attend story time at the library, go to the local parks, or attend church. One time, I biked to Roslin Chapel and had lunch in the city of Roslin. At one point, Amy, Ellie, and Annika all contracted the H1N1 virus. This led to a trip to the local health centre where we observed the effects of “socialized medicine.”
When we first arrived in Scotland, my family and I struggled with what to do with ourselves. We arrived one week prior to the rest of the students, and we were uncertain how to occupy our young children. For some time, we felt lonely and homesick. In this context, it is important to note the development of our friendships with Keith, Donna, Sophie, and Christopher Mack. One day, after a Sunday church service, I went back to the area of the church where our kids had been attending Sunday School. Donna introduced herself and said that Sophie, Ellie, and Annika really had enjoyed playing together. I told her about our situation, and she said that she would be interested in getting together. Ironically, on our way out, we thanked the Pastor of the church, Keith, for the service, and also talked a little about our situation. He also suggested that we get together. We developed a close friendship with the Macks while in Scotland. They came over for dinner and play several times at Dalkeith House and they invited us to their residence several times. It was interesting to observe locals in their home environment. Perhaps more importantly, it was meaningful to have someone befriend us so graciously for a limited time while we were away from home. Toward the end of the semester, for example, Donna e-mailed us and said that they wanted to take us anywhere we wanted with their car and, if we declined, that they were going to surprise us. We elected to have them surprise us. Keith drove us through the mountains to the small village of Peebles, where we proceeded to have tea and scones, and where we bought some Scottish candy in an independent candy shoppe. We then went back to their house for dinner. These are some of my fondest memories from my sabbatical experience.
My family and I also visited other locations. We spent a considerable amount of time in Edinburgh, the Capital, which is a 45-minute bus ride from Dalkeith. In Edinburgh, we visited Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, Arthur’s Seat, the National Gallery, the Museum of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh, the Scottish Parliament, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Scottish Whisky Experience, the Dynamic Earth, the Royal Mile, the Royal Yacht Britannia, and the European Christmas Festival. I went on a walking tour through the New Europe tour group. We visited nearby Crammond Beach, North Berwick, and St. Andrews. On our first extended break, we rented a car and drove via Perth to Aviemore, in the Scottish Highlands. The next weekend, we drove to the Isle of Skye, perhaps the most beautiful location I have ever witnessed. We spent our 10-day break in Western Ireland. Finally, on our second extended break, we took the train through northern England to London.
All of these activities provided occasions to reflect on our lifestyles and our lives in the United States. Every day was a bit of an adventure. Most outings provided the opportunity to observe a difference in customs across cultures. For example, I was struck by how different the playgrounds were in Europe; relative to the United States, European playgrounds were much more open to risk-taking, as revealed by the “zip cords” that we found in most parks. Generally speaking, however, I was struck by how similar people are across cultures. One time, at a pub, I observed a mother trying to console a crying child. The mother performed the exact same actions that most mothers in the United States would have performed, such as giving the baby a pacifier, rocking her, bouncing her up and down on her knee, and speaking in “Motherese” (a musical kind of speech that babies tend to prefer). Everyday also provided opportunities to appreciate beauty and explore my interest in photography.
Taken together, the aforementioned sabbatical activities led to several important outcomes relevant to teaching, interactions with students, and my personal life. These are discussed below, in turn.
RESULTS OF MY SABBATICAL:
Teaching Outcomes
The primary outcome of my sabbatical involved successfully preparing, delivering, and evaluating the three courses that I taught as a part of the “Experience Scotland” program: General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and the Psychology of Religion/Spirituality. Also, as a faculty member in the program, I helped to support the safety and development of students in the program.
Participating in the “Experience Scotland” program has provided me with knowledge that I have been able to share with Normandale faculty interested in similar sabbatical experiences and students interested in this study abroad opportunity. Since my return, I have talked with four Normandale faculty interested in the program. On Normandale’s “College Success Day,” I helped to facilitate a program devoted to the program that was attended by 14 students. I have shared this presentation with Dan Creed, Coordinator of International Education at Normandale, as well as Brent Greene, Director of the “Experience Scotland” program, both of whom have said that they may adapt it for future presentations on the program.
One of the primary ways in which my sabbatical has changed my approach to teaching has been to reinforce the importance of critical/scientific thinking in my courses. Through conversations with Dr. Hanger and particularly through the oral final exams that I administered as a part of my General Psychology and Abnormal Psychology courses, I learned how meaningful it is to emphasize the scientific emphasis of the discipline of Psychology. Although students seem to enjoy the applied aspects of Psychology most naturally, my interactions with students in the oral finals showed me that students seemed to learn more when they were challenged to think critically and scientifically, as this is something that they may have a more difficult time doing without outside instruction. As a result, in my General Psychology courses this semester, I have increased the emphasis on critical/scientific thinking. For example, I assigned an additional required book, “50 Myths of Popular Psychology,” which is focused on the application of science to understand human behavior. I have increased the integration of critical/scientific thinking throughout the semester. I anticipate doing this in all of my courses in the future.
Various components of my sabbatical experience helped me to better understand the role of culture in human behavior. In general, I was struck by the similarities between the behaviors of Western Europeans and Americans, a point that generally is neglected in discussions of cultural influences. However, I also was struck by different emphasizes on achievement and relationships across cultures, with Americans generally more focused on achievement and less focused on interdependent relationships and the cultivation of community. Related to this, my sabbatical has helped me to appreciate the high level of stress that characterizes American society. When I interact with students now, I can more clearly observe the effects of stress in their lives. This often seems to explain why students struggle, as they have too many other commitments in other domains of their lives. As a result, I have continued to develop units on culture, motivation, and stress in my courses this semester. For instance, in my General Psychology courses this semester, for the first time in my teaching career, I assigned a chapter dealing with stress and health. Discussions in my courses reflect some of what I learned on my sabbatical. I often am guided by my observations of cross-cultural differences from my sabbatical. I increasingly am encouraging students to prioritize and simplify their lives as a way to attain a balance of achievement and health.
My “experiment” on different ways to encourage students to complete reading assignments in Scotland also has shaped my teaching. When comparing students’ reactions to the “Question Journal” and “Response Paper” assignments I implemented during my sabbatical, it was clear that students generally preferred the former. Specifically, students generally thought the “Question Journal” assignment helped them to think more deeply and critically about reading assignments. Students generally indicated that the “Response Paper” assignment felt more like “busy work” that did not lead to increased depth of thought. As a result, I have implemented the “Question Journal” assignment in all of my courses and have eliminated the “Response Paper” assignment.
Finally, as I sought ideas for how to present material to my small classes in appropriate ways, I was surprised to find various sources for my discipline that I had never known about. (It seems that when you google a topic in a different part of the world, different results are obtained.) I now receive regular e-mails from the “Research Digest,” a publication of the British Psychological Society that summarizes recent research that is published in Psychology. I also regularly read “The Psychologist,” the main publication of the British Psychological Society. From these sources, I have learned of research that I have been able to incorporate into my courses at Normandale. I anticipate assigning some of the short articles from “The Psychologist” in future courses.
Interactions with Students
Perhaps the most important professional outcome of my sabbatical was a better understanding of how I wish to interact with students. I long have struggled with this. In some ways, it seems preferable to have a strictly professional relationship with students. It is important for students to respect college as an institution and faculty as more knowledgeable and experienced than they are. On the other hand, it seems apparent that students most develop themselves through a close relationship with a faculty member. Students often recount that their most meaningful experiences occur through informal exchanges with faculty. In this context, it was very striking for me to observe how students in the “Experience Scotland” program interacted with faculty. Developing such close relationships with students allowed me to directly inquire into their attitudes and preferences toward faculty.
In general, students in the program seemed to want faculty to interact with them within their faculty role. They did not see faculty as their peers. They wanted their space when they wanted to go out or hang out among themselves. On the other hand, they desired to learn from faculty and spend time informally discussing ideas and getting to know each other. Thus, this balance of being professional toward students while also being appropriately personable was reinforced to me during my sabbatical.
More specifically, something that struck me during my sabbatical was the potential for students to become uncomfortable because of relationships developed toward faculty members. Some students naturally are drawn to some faculty more easily than others. During my sabbatical, this happened with me, as it usually does. However, because of the proximity of everyone in the house, I could observe the effects of the relatively closer relationships I developed with some students than others. It didn’t seem to me at all inappropriate to develop close relationships with some students. However, the problem that I have become more sensitive to is that closeness toward certain students makes other students feel uncomfortable or perhaps jealous.
The effects of “gossip” also became clearer to me during my sabbatical. (By “gossip,” I mean an interaction in which someone present discusses something about someone else not present.) Sometimes, students talk about other students in a class; other times, they talk about other faculty. Living with students and faculty during my sabbatical allowed me to observe the effects of this kind of interaction. It seems to lead to a sense of pride in those included. If word gets back to the members not included, hurt feelings often developed.
Taken together, these experiences in my sabbatical have encouraged me to better establish a professional role with students. I want students to think of me as their professor more than a peer or friend. As a result, I have intentionally presented myself since my sabbatical more professionally than I have in the past. I give the students the option of calling me “Andy,” but I also emphasize that I prefer being called “Dr. Tix” or “Professor Tix,” rather than “Mr. Tix.” I also have changed how I have dressed, particularly in the beginning of the semester when students’ impressions are most influenced. I intentionally am dressing more formally. I also have intentionally set firmer boundaries with students. Increasingly, I have directed students more to my office hours, rather than having an “open door” policy in which students drop by. When students befriend me on Facebook, I have decided to wait until the end of the semester to “accept” so that the possibility of one student telling another student they saw something on my Facebook page becomes less possible, thereby preventing other students’ discomfort. When students bring up another student or faculty member in my interaction with them, I try to change the topic as fast as possible or I try to reflect their feelings back toward the other person empathically without adding my personal commentary. When chatting with my students in the hallway, I try to avoid discussion of their other courses (which has a high probability of leading to complaining about other faculty). Instead, I have become more likely to ask about their experience in my course.
When explaining some of these policies to students, I refer to my sabbatical in Scotland, where I had the opportunity to observe the policies and relationships of University faculty and students. I tell students that a community college environment differs in many ways from a university environment and that one of my roles is to help prepare them for transfer to any number of colleges and universities, if they ever desire to do so.
With my professional role better established, however, I also seek to develop closer relationships with students. Rather than being focused on being close for its own sake, however, I try to focus these relationships on students’ development and the development and interchange of ideas. To do this, I more intentionally arrive early to class in order to interact informally with students. As another example, on April 24, 2010, I took 9 students to the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference at Macalaster College in St. Paul. This was the perfect opportunity for me to interact with students closely, but in a way that was consistent with my professional role. Afterward, we went to a local Indian restaurant and spent about 90 minutes discussing transfer and professional issues in Psychology. It is my intention to offer one of these kinds of “field trip” experiences every semester.
Personal Outcomes
People often ask me about how it was to spend my sabbatical abroad in Scotland. I typically respond that it may have been the best experience of my life. In fact, it is not a stretch to call this sabbatical “transformative.” I end this report with some reflection on how this sabbatical has influenced me personally, with some discussion of the implications of this personal change for my work with students.
Going to a different country without any local connections was very difficult initially. My family and I struggled with the local norms, how to spend our time, and loneliness. In this context, it was very meaningful for me to develop relationships with the Macks, and to realize the significance of having meaningful relationships in one’s immediate environment. I often think about how graciously the Macks acted toward my family and me. Whereas in the past, I used to more frequently keep a “score card” in my mind about how much others reciprocated kind acts, I now have an increased commitment to develop relationships and act graciously toward others without expectation of return. In thinking about my students, for example, I often compare my experience in Scotland with the experiences of those who recently have moved to the United States from another part of the world (such as eastern Africa or the Ukraine). I seek to remember the meaningfulness of being known by name, treated with kindness, and invited into a relationship of some kind as I interact with such individuals.
The most significant feeling that I experienced during my sabbatical was a sense of adventure. I cannot remember a time in my life where I explored and was challenged to learn as much as I did during my sabbatical. Obviously, this came in part from living in a different country in which everything was new and unexplored. This has caused me to reflect on what I would like to explore more at home and has left me with a desire to visit more local museums and sites. This summer, for instance, I plan to visit several art museums with my family and to take a trip to Duluth. I also have a greater motivation to travel more in the future. I am interested in developing short-term study abroad experiences and would enjoy the opportunity to do another semester abroad as a part of a sabbatical in the future. The challenge of my sabbatical also came, however, from interacting so closely with students. I remember many interchanges where students and I would discuss books we had read, for instance. Students were struck that I tended to read certain kinds of non-fiction books, but had not explored much beyond. They often challenged me to read different kinds of books, and gave me many recommendations. As a result of all this, I am committed more to continuing my personal education. This year, I have made (and kept) a New Year’s resolution to read a variety of different kinds of books, including non-fiction books about food and nutrition, the Holocaust, and science, as well as various fiction books. Generally, I have acquired a greater motivation to continue learning because of my sabbatical. I anticipate taking additional college courses as a result. This summer, for instance, I am going to take a photography course to learn more skills at an activity that I really grew to enjoy as a part of my sabbatical. I believe this kind of balanced commitment to lifelong learning provides a good role model for students (and I often drop mention of what I am learning in class as a result).
Living in a different culture also encouraged me to think about my priorities and lifestyle anew. I have since realized how much my life is based on the desire to accomplish and how much stress I experience. Memories from my sabbatical anchor me to another way of life. I now seek much more balance. For example, I increasingly seek to “experience” life, rather than just to accomplish things. During a normal workday now, I try to take a walk through the Japanese Garden or, if the weather is inclement, to chat with some people in the hallways – for its own sake. I have made it a priority to connect with colleagues in my Department every day at work. I go for a walk almost every day. My wife and I have committed ourselves to a true “Sabbath” on Sundays in which we center ourselves spiritually, spend time with family, and connect with friends (without working). We even have changed the way we eat toward more locally produced and raised foods. As a result of all this, I feel much more healthy and balanced. In the classroom, I feel more energy and joy, which I think students notice. I am enjoying my life more now than ever before, and I believe my teaching is more effective as a result.
Finally, my sabbatical was transformative for my family. When I agreed to accept a position as a part of the “Experience Scotland” program, my kids had never even been on an airplane, much less travelled to a different country. My wife, recently diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, longed to “experience life.” This sabbatical provided my family with the opportunity to do something truly memorable with each other. We were able to explore together, learn to rely on each other during various trials, and change our family story to include a true adventure. In these ways, this sabbatical was priceless.
I sometimes struggle with my sabbatical ending because of how very rich and meaningful it was to me, for all of the reasons I have noted in this report. It has been somewhat difficult to return to life in the United States. However, at these times, I remember how this sabbatical has shaped me, how it is a part of me and my life’s story, and how grateful I am that I have had the experience. In conclusion, to paraphrase George Moore, a man travels the world in search of what he needs – only to find it when he returns home.
