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Vanessa
Vanessa Ruiz
Studying in ten countries on Semester at Sea
Vanessa is a 22-year-old photography major and artist at the Rhode Island School of Design, although she hails from Miami, Florida. She is studying abroad with Semester at Sea, a unique program in which students live and take classes on a cruise ship while visiting La Guaira, Venezuela; Salvador, Brazil; Cape Town, South Africa; Mombasa, Kenya; Chennai (Madras), India; Yangon, Myanmar; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Hong Kong; Kobe, Japan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and San Diego, California. Amidst all the sight seeing and soul searching she will also manage to take classes in Global Studies, Abnormal Psychology, Small Business Management, and Women in Religion, all courses she says, "I am very interested in and which will be enhanced by my travel."
When asked what she was most excited about, her answer was:
"I guess I am most excited about meeting people from around the world, learning about their culture and how they interact with their world and other cultures. You can learn a lot about cultures from a classroom in the US but meeting people and experiencing their culture in person gives you a new understanding and appreciation for the world and its diversity. I'm especially interested in meeting the children in the countries I am traveling to... and of course photographing everything."
When asked what she was most anxious about, she had two very serious, very pressing issues she wanted to discuss. She is most anxious of:
"Getting bitten by a piranha while in the Amazon. Or maybe the credit card bill."
Her Q & A on general interests produced these results:
What type of music do you listen to?
I love all kinds of music, from Rap like Missy Elliot to more classical music like Sarah Brightman, but my absolute favorites are Shakira and Dolly Parton. Dolly above all, who has influenced my life in more ways than I can count. I have the Dollywood butterfly tattooed on my shoulder...long long story.
What are your hobbies?
Photography is my passion. I'm also a poet and a closet science geek. I would say my life has been led by a desire to help others and I hope to always travel and do some service to children living in difficult situations. I've found great joy in traveling to orphanages in other countries and teaching there. I find that photographing my experiences has help bring awareness to the people at home and I've also been able to collect donations because of my images.
Favorite books/magazines/TV/movies?
One of my favorite books, which I think was a great lesson for me as a child is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It taught me that difficult situations are a part of life and that we must all face them and work through them. My favorite fiction book is The Count of Monte Cristo for its elaborate, clever and suspenseful plot. However, I find that I am more drawn to geeky science books such as The Elegant Universe which is about string theory and quantum physics. I can't resist books or movies on quantum mechanics, astronomy, or other wondrous sciences. I highly recommend the movie What the $%&@ do we know? which deals with how quantum physics is believed to work in our lives. All very geeky stuff! But wondrous! Needless to say, you can probably guess I'm a trekky. Yes, Star Trek is my favorite TV show of all time. And my second love is comedy which I feel is just as important to life as any knowledge in any textbook.
Finally, Vanessa would like to leave everyone with this small bit of insight:
"My friends call me Nessie, like the Loch Ness Monster. I'm a big nerd and a horrible speller. Sometimes I write very sophisticated and sometimes I sound like a teenager. In my blog my entries will vary in personality depending on the content. I'm sure that with a trip like this one, my blog entries will range in emotion and tone as I encounter the joys and difficulties of life I'll see in the people I'll meet on my journey."
