Photo by Matt Benton
About 50 people gathered in Stauffer Chapel on Monday night for a special Convocation series geared toward Pepperdine’s future travelers. This convocation series focused on students involved with International Programs — those who will go abroad, have gone abroad and those with a curiosity for travel.
Since Monday night, the two programs that have had SALT Convocations are Buenos Aires and Shanghai.
Junior and Shanghai Ambassador Noah Muscente explained the series: “SALT, Serving As Leaders Together, is a Convocation intended specifically to kick off the spiritual life aspect of International Programs. Generally, freshman students going abroad and IP alumni take part in leading worship and praying, and visiting faculty from past programs come and share insightful words and speak of their experiences abroad.”
Muscente then explained the goal of the series.
“The goal of SALT is to engage the members of each program and introduce them to the spiritual life aspect of studying abroad,” he said. “My greatest hope for students attending SALT is that they be further encouraged to seek spiritual growth while abroad.”
Junior and International Programs Spiritual Life Intern Caleb Wright explained how the uniqueness of the series hopes to expose students to the awaiting adventure.
“My hope is that students who attend SALT will begin to help each other open themselves to the philosophical, theological and spiritual dimensions of their encroaching adventure,” he said. “And if they feel so inspired, to take charge of their company’s journey abroad and step into the multiple leadership opportunities that are available.”
The evening kicked off with student-led worship, followed by Director of Disability Services and speaker Sandy Harrison along with Professor of Political Science and speaker Dr. Robert Williams. They spoke about self-growth, travel tips and shared stories from their experiences abroad.
Harrison offered advice about letting go.
“It’s an opportunity of a lifetime, and students shouldn’t be afraid to take it,” she said. “In these opportunities, it’s important to move past perfectionism and what is considered comfortable.”
The service then finished with worship.
After the service, Muscente shared how this SALT captured the essence of the Shanghai program. “Shanghai tends to attract the adventurers, the challenge-seekers — those who yearn for something different than they’re used to,” he said. “Our speakers and student volunteers really captured that spirit in different ways. As a result, the whole Convocation seemed to flow organically despite differences in backgrounds, speaking styles and perspectives.”
There is one SALT Convo for each program, so the nights tend to be tailored to the program participants.
The Buenos Aires SALT captured the feeling of adventure and presented a message on how to push one’s limits while abroad for personal development. Eighty-two students attended the Convocation.
Wright recounted the Buenos Aires SALT.
“The Buenos Aires SALT set an excellent tone for the rest of the semester’s events,” he said. “[Associate Professor of Biology] Dr. Donna Plank explained the necessity of developing an open heart and mind to the diversity of culture, experiences and worldview that will be encountered while abroad — the necessity of seeking out and taking on challenging situations and experiences that will grow students as people and maximize their time abroad.”
Freshman and upcoming Shanghai traveler Eric Rogers shared what he took from the Convocation.
“I got a lot of wisdom from it,” he said. “I really liked the idea about taking time to wander in travel, especially in wandering to find purpose.”
Freshman and upcoming London traveler Hannah Kellis agreed with Rogers. “One thing I’m definitely going to take away from this is the importance of being present,” she said. “I’m going to make sure my travels are more than the bucket list of places I wanted to visit.”
The other programs, minus Buenos Aires and Shanghai, will have their SALT Convocations after spring break:
- 3/23/2015 7 p.m. Lausanne SALT Convo, Stauffer Chapel
- 3/30/2015 7 p.m. Heidelberg SALT Convo, Stauffer Chapel
- 4/6/2015 7 p.m. London SALT Convo, Stauffer Chapel
- 4/13/2015 7 p.m. Washington D.C. SALT Convo, Stauffer Chapel
- 4/20/2015 7 p.m. Florence SALT Convo, Stauffer Chapel
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