Rocky cliffs, narrow roads, towering mountains, rushing rivers, dense forests, and intricate buildings. These were what greeted me after arriving in Bhutan late January. Moments before, I had stepped off of my flight from Bangkok to Bhutan.
Leaning over my peer on the plane, I had strained to see the views of the mountains on either side of us and the valley below. Growing up in Ohio, the view before me seemed like it came straight out of a movie. Our Home on The Hill in Granville, although beautiful, was incredibly different from what I saw then. I still remember my awe seeing the rising sun and morning fog in the mountain valley as I walked onto the tarmac that day.
This past spring semester of my junior year, I spent three and a half months in Bhutan as part of a School for Field Studies (SFS) program. As a first generation student, when I first came to Denison I was interested in the possibility of studying abroad but I had no idea what options were available to me. Once I decided to double major in environmental science and sustainability & environmental studies, I knew I had to plan well and wanted a program that would allow me to transfer credits to both majors. Until applying for study abroad, I hadn’t heard of the country located in the Himalayan mountains with over 70% forest cover – and a unique Gross National Happiness philosophy.
I was looking for an environment-focused program somewhere I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to prior to being a Denison student. And Bhutan was the perfect destination for me. The program was focused around the changes in society and environment of Bhutan as a small mountainous kingdom. My classes centered on the governance, landscape, natural resources, and biodiversity of Bhutan that contextualized its environmental policy and initiatives. I was part of a cohort of 26 students, living, learning, and traveling together across Bhutan.
My cohort grew close very quickly; we got to know each other very well! While at the program center, we had around four scheduled classes each day and shared meals together. As a field studies program, we often ventured on field lectures, visits, and exercises for hands-on learning — which really enhanced my experience. The program ended with a directed research project where we worked closely with one of our professors to develop the aims of the study, collect field data, write a report, and present our findings to the community.
