Students share summer experiences

Even though the campus may not have been as busy this summer, Texas Tech students stayed active and represented Tech throughout the world.

One of those students, Katie Main, a senior journalism major from Cypress, took an eight-week trip to Chengdu, China, for a cultural exchange.

“It was a good amount of time because I was able to get comfortable there and get in the routine,” Main said. “It stopped feeling like a vacation and started to feel like I actually lived there.”

One thing that stood out to her was experiencing what it was like to be a minority, Main said. As a white woman, Main said in America she has never known what it is like to walk into a room and be the only one of her color.

“I was stared at on the street and taken pictures of,” Main said. “It was really humbling, and I was able to learn what my friends go through as people of color.”

With a city population of over 14 million people, Main said it was different from what she is used to in her hometown or in Lubbock.

“It’s such a fun place to live, and I really just disconnected from America,” she said. “I didn’t have access to social media, so I kind of felt an out-of-body experience.”

Main said she loved the culture and people so much that she wants to go back and live in China long term.

Jack Ciampi, a senior public relations and marketing major from Houston, spent his summer in Los Angeles for a public relations internship with Fender Musical Instruments.

Through his job, Rolling Stone picked up one of Ciampi’s pitches. He said the video Rolling Stone created received over 15 million views in the U.S. and was later shown in Rolling Stone Japan. Ciampi said it was crazy to think he was the one responsible for that.

“It was something you can’t really get in Lubbock because it’s so small and regional, so it was cool to get it from a national and international standpoint,” Ciampi said.

With the company being famous for making guitars, he said it was neat to learn about the history of the company. Ciampi said he was also reminded of Lubbock often because they mention Buddy Holly and him being famous for playing a Fender.

At the end of his internship, Ciampi had a presentation in front of about 40 employees and the executives. Afterward, they gifted him with a Fender guitar, which Ciampi said was a great ending to a defining moment of sharing his input with the company.

Cari Whittenburg, a senior communications studies major from San Angelo, studied abroad in London through the College of Media & Communication for two weeks.

Whittenburg said on the first day of school, her professor's wife took the class to Windsor Castle for the Royal Wedding.

“It was definitely something I would not trade for the world,” Whittenburg said.

While in London, they toured the Harry Potter Studios, which Whittenburg said was the highlight of her trip because she is a huge fan, and it was unlike anything she has seen before.

“You have these expectations, but going to a foreign country, you have all these new experiences,” Whittenburg said. “The trip was probably 10 times better than anything I could have expected.”

http://www.dailytoreador.com/lavida/students-share-summer-experiences/article_adf823be-a989-11e8-9d95-8b35d88c2fa4.html