“Students will gain a cultural understanding, but also learn how to live harmoniously,” Captain Kostas Siamantas said to parents of soon-to-be Semester at Sea Fall 2016 voyagers.
This evening, the MV World Odyssey welcomed roughly 230 parents on board the ship in Hamburg, Germany with a Bon Voyage Parent and Family Reception. Guests met Semester at Sea home office staff as well as voyage faculty and staff, mingled with other parents and were provided ship tours by work study students, who boarded the ship today.
Rick Sullivan’s daughter, Riley, will be sailing on the voyage and is a Psychology major at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They are both from Los Angeles, California.
“She’s going to come back a different person in such a great way,” Sullivan said of Riley. “Confidence is the greatest gift that this program gives to students.”
Parents, who themselves are SAS Alumni, had the opportunity to explore the MV World Odyssey and reflect on their time at sea.
Pam Carey sailed in the Spring of 1982; her daughter, Meredith sailed in the Fall of 2013, and her son, Drew will embark tomorrow.
“To me, Semester at Sea can be broken down into three parts,” Carey said. “Your class work, the in-country experiences and the relationships you build while on the ship.”
Carey mentioned how she still remains in contact with the shipboard community from her voyage. She and her husband Ron are considering applying to be Lifelong Learners on a future voyage.
Priyanka Shah is a post graduate student from India and boarded the ship early to start her work study position. She, along with her parents and sister explored the ship and together they talked about what this experience means for Priyanka.
“It really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me,” Shah said. “I couldn’t be happier at this moment and it makes me so happy that my parents got to see the ship.”
The event concluded with speeches by President & CEO Loren Crabtree, Vice President for Advancement Audra Brickner, Captain Kostas Siamantas, Executive Dean Nick Iammarino and Academic Dean Toni Zimmerman.
Parents disembarked the ship at 21:00 and will have an opportunity to say formal goodbyes to their voyagers tomorrow. Over 550 students will embark on their Semester at Sea experience in the morning.
