By EMILY CLANCE
A&E Editor
At the beginning of each summer, Piedmont students get the opportunity to travel
around the world on one of several Maymester trips offered by the school.
This past summer, travelers were able to spend two weeks in Germany, Ireland, Japan,
Alaska, Peru and France to experience local culture as well as learn about art, business,
literature and science along the way.
Senior music major Jennifer Pitt was one of the students on the trip to France this year.
Having been to England and Italy in the past, she chose to go to Paris this year to study
art with Professor Brian Hitselberger and creative writing with Dr. Timothy O’Keefe.
“We went to a lot of different museums, and the creative writing part was writing about
the things we saw in the museums,” Pitt said.
The students went to the Museum of Modern Art, the Pompideu Center, the Eiffel
Tower and Notre Dame, among other famous sites. In fact, Pitt’s favorite memory from
the trip took place at Notre Dame.
“Being a music major, I think my favorite part was one night when I went to mass at
Notre Dame,” she said.
“I went by myself because the others were doing something else they wanted to do, but
as a music person I wanted to go and hear all the music, all the chants in French.
“I got to stand between two native Parisians who knew all the words and knew
everything by heart, so they would help me with the program.”
“It was just beautiful, a beautiful cathedral and beautiful music.”
Compared to her experiences in Italy and England, Pitt’s Maymester in France was
more limited, due to staying in just one city as opposed to several. However, she did not
see this as a severe limitation, but as a chance to know their location more in-depth.
“We got to stay in one city and explore the different neighborhoods, the ins and outs,
and we got to know our neighbors around our hotel very well,” she said.
“I would have loved to spend more time in the museums,” she added. “There’s so many
museums and they’re all gigantic. I would love to go and just sit in there for hours.”
Piedmont has already announced the Maymester locations for 2015. Next summer,
students will be traveling to Germany, China, England and Scotland, Puerto Rico, Peru,
France and Switzerland, Italy and the Czech Republic and Germany. For more
information, contact Dr. Stephanie Almagno at
[email protected].
Pitt poses with her friend Kelly Hood in front of classical art at on of Paris’ many museums
The inside of Notre Dame Cathedral
Photos courtesy of Jennifer Pitt