Alumnus Reflects on Unlearning Everything
Author: Carroll UniversityPublished Date: 07/10/2019Categories:Alumni Students Cross-Cultural Experience
Jack Sherman ’18, an assistant content specialist at Milwaukee-based advertising agency Bader Rutter,
was recently published in the
Sherman reflects in the essay, "What does it mean to study abroad? Is it a cultural experience? An experiment in independence? A rite of passage for emerging scholars? A definitive answer will probably always elude us. But I’ve had some time to think about it and, year after year, I’ve habitually come to the same conclusion: in many ways, studying abroad is an arduous process of unlearning everything you’ve ever known."
He adds, "I was having embarrassingly enlightening moments on a daily basis, and I was thankful for them. Most of all, I was excited to unlearn even more."
magazine, BEYOND, produced by ISI Florence and the Umbra Institute.
The essay, titled "How to Unlearn Everything," explores some of the relationships Sherman cultivated and the "stupid things" he did to unlearn his cultural biases while studying abroad in 2016. Sherman traveled to Italy while participating in the cross-cultural experience course, Italy: Travel Writing in the Italian Tradition.Sherman reflects in the essay, "What does it mean to study abroad? Is it a cultural experience? An experiment in independence? A rite of passage for emerging scholars? A definitive answer will probably always elude us. But I’ve had some time to think about it and, year after year, I’ve habitually come to the same conclusion: in many ways, studying abroad is an arduous process of unlearning everything you’ve ever known."
He adds, "I was having embarrassingly enlightening moments on a daily basis, and I was thankful for them. Most of all, I was excited to unlearn even more."
