Global understanding series starts discussion about taking risks

Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus hosted a Global Understanding Series event focused on taking risks on Oct. 25 and was designed to help students develop skills to assess risks in life with a focus on study abroad.

Event coordinator, Amy Russell, said the event was inspired by Matt Haley, an entrepreneur with many restaurants in Delaware, and is dedicated to his reputation for being adventurous.

Russell said, “Study abroad is something that many people think of as risky. They might speak another language, they might be eating weird food, all of these things can be perceived as risks.”

Maribeth Dockety, member of the Global Understanding Committee, agreed that international travel could be scary to people, especially young people who are used to the Delaware lifestyle.

“We are hoping that students understand that Matt took a lot of risks in his life and this program is designed to recognize we all have scary moments in our lives,” said Dockety.

The event took place in the Arts and Sciences building auditorium and the program involved students sharing their experiences and their feelings about taking risks. Group exercises followed in which students had an opportunity to share more personal stories of times that they took risks and whether or not it worked in their favor.

Abigail Granados, a current Delaware Tech student, said, “I learned that risks are not bad, and they can be good.”

Granados followed by saying “after taking this workshop I might take more risks now.”

Communicating about fears is a big part of overcoming those fears. In the workshop Jennifer Blackwell (left) led the discussion about risk taking, the good and bad of international travel, and the factors that students may have that control these feelings. Photo by A. Smith.