Last spring, incoming senior fraternal twins Danielle and Alethea Pritchard, left Taylor’s campus to embark on a trip of a lifetime — or in this case, the trips of two lifetimes.
Danielle, an illustration major, participated in a study abroad program in Orvieto, Italy, an experience offered through Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts and typically targeted toward art students.
She traveled to Orvieto with two other Taylor students, peers she knew from previous classes.
“We all went with this desire to be part of (an) art program,” Danielle said. “And for me, I had known about Orvieto since I was a freshman, but I had thought it was not an opportunity through Taylor anymore. And I discovered when three of our upperclassmen went for it that it was possible.”
Danielle procrastinated submitting her application to the program until the last minute, but soon came to realize that she was indeed meant to be part of the trip.
Meanwhile, Danielle’s sister Alethea was settling in at her new residence in Oxford, England, through a program called Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO).
“It was an amazing opportunity, because for one thing, it was amazing that two of us could go abroad at the same time, let alone be able to go to Taylor at the same time,” Alethea said. “It’s completely by the grace of God and by the generosity of people at Taylor.”
Alethea’s application process led her to apply twice, once through Taylor and again through SCIO. She was the only Taylor student to take part in this specific program at the time she went.
As a psychology major with a neuroscience minor, Alethea was thrilled to be studying alongside and under three personal tutors in three areas of her choosing — in this case, behavioral neuroscience, psychological disorders and C.S. Lewis and the classics.
SCIO’s program runs on a tutorial structure, and each month at Oxford brought a different schedule and rhythm.
Often, Alethea’s days began with a tutoring session followed by several hours studying.
Danielle’s daily routine focused on two things — art and housework.
As students of the Gordon in Orvieto Program, Danielle and her cohort of 20 total peers were expected to share the load as far as weekly chores and cleaning of the place they were staying in, a convent of the Catholic order, Santa Maria dei Servi.
Like a true artist, Danielle’s delight was not just in the art that she was creating, but the art in the city all around her as well.
“It was very encouraging to see that there is a world and an audience for art as a professional platform and as just a life platform, I suppose,” Danielle said. “But in religion and in social structure and social community, there’s a place for it that you don’t necessarily see when you’re talking about the professional world in America. But it is there. It’s just something I have tuned out.”
Outside the art scene, Danielle got a real taste for Italian culture by indulging in meals made by a local friend and chef, Maria, taking Italian language classes as a cohort and traveling outside of Orvieto.
Danielle took trips to several dreamy destinations throughout Italy: Rome, Florence, Siena and Ischia, an island off the Amalfi coast.
Danielle was especially struck by the country’s valuing of tradition, history and beauty.
“Italy values beauty much more, I would say, than most of America,” Danielle said. “It’s a significant value. It’s a culturally core concept.”
Danielle’s surroundings were a testament to Italy’s rich history.
Next to the convent stood a church that was built 500 years before the United States was established as a country.
What’s more, when Danielle first visited the Duomo — one of the most recognizable cathedrals in Italy — she could sense the weight of what such an iconic religious landmark meant to the Catholic community as well as the Italian people in general.
“They value tradition so significantly that the majority of their religion and … their day-to-day life has some incorporation of tradition,” Danielle said.
At Oxford, Alethea was met by a diverse, authentic community unlike anything she had experienced before.
Throughout her time there, she learned to humble herself as a Christian in a new culture and came to appreciate her encounters with both locals and other visiting scholars.
“There was such a diversity of backgrounds and beliefs among the scholars and tutors,” she said. “We loved worshiping together. You will never meet a more strange, brilliant or loving group of people.”
Though it was not lost on her what a remarkable opportunity it was to study in such a revered academic setting, the intense educational environment still presented its challenges.
Relying on what grounds her in her faith became essential to Alethea’s study abroad journey.
“I was a bit taken aback by the imposter syndrome I would sometimes find in myself and others,” she said. “This shouldn't have been a surprise, given the resources made available to us. It was crucial to remember where my true identity was found.”
Both Danielle and Alethea were greatly sharpened by the months they spent studying abroad.
Leaving everything that is familiar certainly felt like a leap of faith, but both sisters have come to value the perspective it has given them in their respective fields of study.
As they prepare to re-enter life for their final year in Upland, Indiana, Danielle and Alethea are considering how the impact of what they have seen and experienced will continue to manifest.
“There (were) so many points along the way where I almost didn’t go for it,” Danielle said. “And I’m so glad I did.”
