Through service learning, cultural immersion, and study abroad programs, MSJ students are encouraged to step outside their boundaries, gaining fresh perspectives in new places.
Author Neale Donald Walsch says, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Walking away from creature comforts and familiar routines isn’t instinctively easy for many. The unknowns, the “what ifs,” and the fear of feeling out of place can hold us back. Yet, within these moments of uncertainty, we know true learning begins. This is why the Mount has always prioritized education beyond the classroom.
Through service learning, cultural immersion, and study abroad programs, MSJ students are encouraged to step outside their boundaries, gaining fresh perspectives in new places. These experiences enhance global awareness, foster empathy and understanding of other cultures, and introduce students to new customs, languages, and religions. Students grow professionally and personally in these settings, making an impact only real-world experiences can offer.
Studying Abroad with a Mission
It’s 8 a.m., and Brooklyn Brunner ’23 has just landed in Rome after graduating from the Mount only the day before. She and 22 other MSJ students are heading straight from the airport to the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center. There, they distribute clothing donations that they collected prior to the trip, offering vital supplies to refugees who are homeless after fleeing war-torn countries.
The students are 4,796 miles from Cincinnati on a faculty-led Service Learning & Sport in Italy trip offered by the Department of Sport Management in the School of Business & Communication. Students learn about international sports organizations and administration practices in this short-term study abroad program, while immersing themselves in Italy’s Catholic history and traditions.
Even though Brunner is not a Sport Management major, she had always wanted to go to Italy after hearing about her older sister’s travel-abroad experience there. The service elements of the trip applied to her interests and skills as an Early Childhood Education major. Despite needing to complete her student-teaching requirement in her final semester, the Mount offered her the opportunity to join the trip, even though she couldn’t take the course for credit.
“That is the Mount to a tee,” Brunner says. “They’re going to meet you where you’re at, and they’re going to make sure you get everything that you need.”
For decades, the Mount has provided learning opportunities around the world to broaden students’ horizons, heighten curiosity, and offer an outside perspective. MSJ students have traveled to London to learn about literary greats, have swam in the Aegean Sea to uncover ancient Greek ruins, have followed in Darwin’s footsteps in the Galapagos Islands’ ecosystems, and have researched burgeoning AI technologies in Finland.
Many of these experiences are made possible through partnerships with the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) and The Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA) for long-term programs and in-house short-term study-abroad opportunities created as faculty-led courses.
“I think it’s really important when students can get out of their comfort zone,” says Caroline Meyer, assistant director of Service Learning & Civic Engagement at the Career & Experiential Education Center. “The travel component and seeing a different place in the country or even the world can really broaden their horizons to experiencing a new culture or meeting new people. On the more academic side, you see a higher retention rate of students who are doing these experiential opportunities. Usually, those students have more rewarding educational experiences. It can make what they’re learning so much more impactful.”
Growing up, Brunner says her parents sacrificed a lot so the family could travel and play sports. Her father loved taking them to different Major League Baseball stadiums. Her mother liked crossing off locations from the Amazing Places to Take Your Kids: Hundreds of North American Adventures—a book she received for Christmas one year. They made the most of Brunner’s volleyball tournaments, visiting places like Florida, Chicago, and St. Louis, where they’d venture off to check out nearby attractions. Over time, her mother began to hang their travel photos on their basement wall. Now, those framed memories wrap around the entire room.
During the 12-day trip to Rome and Cinque Terre, students explored the sprawling ruins of Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. They witnessed the architectural beauty of St. Peter’s Basilica and the grandeur of Michelangelo’s masterpiece at the Sistine Chapel. They also attended the Italian Open tennis tournament and toured the Stadio Olimpico—the largest sports facility in Rome.
Brunner could see the paintings and sculptures she studied in her freshman world art class at many museums.
“It showed me that the things you learn in the classroom can carry on—that they can mean a little bit more to you later in life,” she says.
Alongside learning about Italian history and culture, students also experienced service opportunities. Students broke into groups where they provided meals for persons experiencing homelessness, and worked with children with special needs, through a Sisters of Charity mission at the Centro Caritas Santa Giovanna Antida.
Brunner even took on a particularly challenging task of cleaning the home of a man who needed some help. Accompanied only by a sister from the local mission, Brunner was warned that the man didn’t particularly “like” Americans. When she entered the run-down apartment, she noted that the place was in bad shape, with cracks in the floor and cigarette ash everywhere. “I’d never seen a house that dirty.”
For eight hours, though, she persevered with an enduring spirit and positive attitude.
“I cleaned his bathroom, his bedroom, even painted the walls and replaced faucets on the tub,” she says. “It was hardcore work. But if I didn’t do it, he would have been kicked out of his home.”
Brunner says that was the most impactful experience on the trip.
“It taught me that it doesn’t matter how much money you have; it matters what you’re giving back,” she says. “The Mount talked about this the first year we were in college. ‘We are a service.’ And in that moment in Italy, I experienced what that really looked like.”
Today, Brunner teaches second grade at Five Points Elementary School in Springboro, Ohio—the same elementary school she once attended. Her classroom, decorated in vibrant pinks and oranges, radiates the same cheerfulness and enthusiasm she has for doing good in the world and making a difference.
“That trip to Italy solidified that I am meant to be a teacher,” she says.
It taught her resilience, patience, leadership, and compassion. During a challenging hike through Cinque Terre, Brunner kept her group motivated despite exhaustion and tough conditions.
“Everyone wanted to turn around, but I was determined to push us forward,” she says.
Faced with a long, steep climb, she took on a guiding role.
“It was about more than just not complaining,” she says. “It was about lifting others up to push forward.”
Brunner says if anyone is on the fence about whether or not they should study abroad, they should, 100 percent say yes. She notes that while it may be a bit more of a financial commitment, the once-in-a-lifetime experience outweighs the cost. The students even received $1,000 off their trip total on this particular trip thanks to a generous donor.
“If anybody is able to experience traveling internationally, it’s going to open your eyes to a new perspective in life,” she says. “It’s learning about other cultures and being able to overcome biases or learning about different religions that you might not know. You’ll be able to return to the States with a new outlook to teach others.”
To learn more about the Study Abroad program at the Mount, visit our Study Abroad page here!
Service Without Borders
Service to others has always been integral to the Mount’s mission. While Greater Cincinnati has many service opportunities, the call extends to all corners of the country.
The Mount’s longest-running service learning project is with the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) in Eastern Kentucky. Students take a seven-week course on Appalachia Culture & Spirituality, then embark on a service trip over spring break to spend the week at Camp Andrew Jackson in McKee, Kentucky.
According to the Housing Assistance Council, “The poverty rate in Appalachian Kentucky, is double the national rate as nearly one-quarter of eastern Kentuckians have incomes below the poverty level.” However, those numbers are continuing to improve.
With the region’s limited economic opportunities and structural inequalities, students, like Ra’Neisha Carter ’22, want to assist with hands-on community service.
Carter attended Mother of Mercy High School, where she first participated in service trips.
“My parents encouraged me to give back to my community,” Carter says. “By giving back to my community, I appreciate and enjoy working and diversifying myself with different groups of people and different ways of life.”
Carter grew up mainly traveling within the U.S. Her mom’s side of the family has a reunion every two years at a different destination.
“We’d always incorporate an educational aspect,” Carter says. “Like when we went to the Martin Luther King museum [The King Center] in Atlanta. Those experiences really opened my eyes to learning more in-depth about how African Americans went through trials and tribulations during segregation and how they overcame it. It gave me more insight of my own culture as an African American.”
While on the Appalachia service trip, students participate in intensive residential repair—sometimes even building houses from the ground up. With the assistance of professionals, the team of students performs tasks like painting; installing siding, flooring, drywall and roofing; and building ramps.
During her time in McKee, Carter helped to build an addition to a house for a woman and her grandson.
“Appalachia was so beautiful, with the mountains and the trees,” she says. “Even though it was difficult at times due to the conditions, such as being in a rural area with limited phone and dealing with rain most of the time, it was a great way to immerse ourselves in a new environment and be present in the moment without distractions.” Despite challenging circumstances, students are able to bond over unified experiences.
“What stands out is how we started as strangers and became friends by working together,” Carter says. “We bonded through community service, especially in a faith-based environment.”
In 2019, Carter volunteered for another service learning trip to New Orleans. The Mount has aided in relief efforts, particularly in the city’s Ninth Ward, after Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact in 2005, where 1,800 people lost their lives, and over 800,000 housing units were destroyed or damaged.
The Mount partnered with the House of Charity, which was sponsored by the Sisters of Charity Federation and Sister Monica Gundler, who is now the president of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. Through their ministry of hospitality, they welcome groups from all over the country, working with the St. Bernard Project, which helps rebuild homes for natural disaster survivors.
“For me, it was interesting to see the contrast between Bourbon Street, which is fancy and filled with partying, compared to other areas hit hard by the hurricane, where no one was living,” Carter says.
The service learning experiences in Appalachia and New Orleans welcome students to reflect on their personal growth, the impact of their work, and the unique challenges and insights they gain from these different regions.
Michelle Arnold ’19, assistant director of The Center for Mission & Belonging, hopes students ultimately take away kindness, a love for service, and a sense of community after traveling for a service learning experience.
“There’s something fulfilling about doing things for others without expecting anything in return,” Arnold says. “It’s not tangible, but it stays with them.”
The work doesn’t end, though, once students graduate. An alumni donation fully funded a recent social justice retreat, and alumni continue to come back and participate in events like “Workfest” in Appalachia.
“For the students, the biggest indicator of success is when some return to these locations on their own,” Arnold says. “In 2023, a group of students went back to Kentucky without the class, which shows how much they valued the experience.”
Service Learning not only takes students to different locations but also opens their own worlds to a different understanding of how someone else lives. Those experiences become invaluable when they enter into their own professions.
“These trips made me more open-minded, especially now that I work at UC Health,” Carter says. “It helped me understand different cultures and people, making me less judgmental and more willing to work together in diverse environments.”
To learn more about the Service Learning program at the Mount, visit our Service Learning page here!