Senior Wheel journalist Elizabeth Rodewald ’16, an International Relations and Spanish double major, has big plans for after graduation. In August, she will be leaving for Zhuhai, China to teach at United International College for a year.
Photo of Elizabeth in 2014.
While in China, Rodewald will perform facilitative duties, help students with homework and English, assist with events such as student debates and guest lectures and help faculty with class preparation and research.
“It is most definitely comforting knowing that I have plans after graduation and I am very excited for the upcoming year of my life half way across the globe,” Rodewald said.
Being a world learner, she hopes to reach a level of proficiency in Mandarin, the official language of China. She also hopes to teach Chinese students about herself and where she comes from, and in turn, learn the same about them. This is the first of many trips Rodewald is planning, as she wants to interact with people who challenge her Western beliefs and perspectives.
St. Kate’s gave this traveler the skills to go into any situation with confidence and leadership.
“St. Kate’s provided an extremely welcoming, inclusive community where I felt safe enough to share my opinions and ask endless questions. It sounds cliché, but I feel like I enrolled in 2012 as a girl and now I am leaving this university after four years as a woman,” Rodewald said.
Photo of Elizabeth with her Argentine friend at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in January 2016.
Eventually, Rodewald will return to Argentina where she studied abroad for a year in 2014-15. She would love to have a job that allows her to foster old relations and create new ones between South American countries and the United States. She also misses her friends, host family and being surrounded by Spanish language.
Photo of Elizabeth in La Boca, Argentina with a statue of Argentine native, Pope Francis, formerly Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio in 2015.
Photo of Elizabeth in Jujuy, Argentina on the great salt flats called Las Salinas Grandes in 2014.
Reflecting back, Rodewald will miss writing for The Wheel and being a part of Political Science Club, and it is bitter sweet to leave behind classes with women who support each other. Rodewald’s St. Kate’s friends and professors made a lasting impression on her.
“I’m leaving knowing that there will be barriers and obstacles that I will encounter as a woman, but I leave here with the skills, tools and confidence to overcome those and to use my voice when I see something that is discriminatory in any way. … I hope all women at St. Kate’s find what they are passionate about … and that they know that they deserve a place at the table where decisions are being made regardless of the career they choose,” Rodewald said.
Read more:http://www.stkateswheel.com/2016/05/04/oh-the-places-youll-go/
