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History major
Patton Hunt could make traveling his vocation.
Instead, the 20-year-old Dalton native plans to teach history to
high school students once he earns his bachelor’s degree from
Dalton State.
He believes that his four trips to Europe and upcoming Study
Abroad experience in China will help him make history come alive
in the classroom.
“I think it’s important to learn from the past,” Hunt says. “Too
many people get caught up just in what’s going on now. But if
you study ancient Greece, you see many parallels in what
happened thousands of years ago and what’s going on in our
country today.”
When he travels with the University System of Georgia’s Summer
Study in China program in May, he’ll be joined by four other
Dalton State College students, along with Associate Professor of
Political Science Baogang Guo, a native of China, and Laura
Rose, Associate Professor of Accounting. Dr. Guo initiated the
program five years ago, and since that time it has grown to be
one of the USG’s most popular study abroad programs.
“I really want to walk on the Great Wall,” says Hunt, noting
that the two courses he will take, Comparative Politics and
Media, Culture, and Society, will be supplemented by field trips
to such cities as Shanghai and Beijing.
“I wish all students would take advantage of traveling abroad,”
says Hunt. “I’ve learned a lot from all of my trips. I think
traveling is important in helping you become an educated
person.” |
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Until this trip, Hunt has made all of the arrangements for
European travel on his own, occasionally traveling with his two
step-brothers.
His first journey was after his junior year at Northwest High
School, followed by a graduation trip the next summer, and a
21-day world-wind tour last summer that covered almost all of
Europe, including several of the Eastern European countries.
And his most recent trip was just a few months ago – to Ireland
during the winter holidays.
“I have seen some really impressive sites, like Stonehenge in
England, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s
tomb. And visiting the Berlin Wall and standing in the middle of
the Coliseum in Rome were wonderful, too.
“I remember standing in the Coliseum thinking that Roman
emperors had been there and that the gladiators had fought
there. Being in the middle of all of that was an amazing
experience.”
Hunt says he believes that it’s important to try to understand
the culture, customs, and history of others, which is one reason
he is looking forward to his study abroad experience.
“I’ll be interested to see how the Chinese interact with
American students during our trip. I hope when we leave, they
will have a positive view of Americans. We may be able to
correct some wrongs. It all goes back to people not fully
understanding each other.”
And he believes that his trips overseas will help him be a more
effective history teacher.
“I think I can have an impact on others through teaching,” he
says, noting that he can tell students first-hand how
“different” European countries are from the U.S.
“Most students don’t realize that fewer people drive cars over
there, and how people tend to walk so much more than we do. I’ll
be able to share my experiences with them to make it become more
real.”
Hunt expects to graduate in 2012 and hopes to find a teaching
job in the northwest Georgia region.
In the meanwhile, he is very active at Dalton State, serving as
one of the 11 Student Orientation and Advisement and Recruitment
(SOAR) leaders. He will attend the Leadershape Conference in
Champagne, Illinois this summer.
And, to help pay for his love of traveling, Hunt works about 20
hours per week at Beckler’s Carpet in the sample department,
shipping out packages of carpet samples all over the United
States.
“Having a part-time job while going to school has taught me a
lot about time management,” Hunt says. “I’ve learned that I have
to stay on task while doing both, because if I slack off, I
might let somebody down.”
Still, he says that the juggling act is manageable overall,
recalling lessons learned when he was a starting “center” for
Northwest High School’s football team.
“Playing football, I learned that you can’t give up when things
get rough,” he says. “It’s the same with work and school.”
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