International Student-Athletes Team Up With Woodland Elementary
1/30/2017 10:07:00 AM | General
Just before winter break, a group of Kent State international student-athletes, representing eight different countries, visited first-graders at Woodland Elementary School. The student-athletes took time to share their culture, languages, and traditions of their native countries: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Jamaica, New Zealand, Scotland, and Spain. The student-athletes introduced themselves in their native language, taught the students to say 'hello' and spoke on their experiences of living in a different country as well as playing their respective sports.
Eilidh Thomson from the field hockey team and from Edinburgh, Scotland, enjoyed her time with the elementary students.  "It was fun seeing the kids excited about us coming to their school," said Thomson. "We brought in our flags, they got to pick their favorite one and ask us questions about our favorite traditions, foods and something we have in our country but don't have here [in the United States]. I really enjoyed it because it was something different, we got to help out the community and speak on where we all came from and what makes us, us."
Kent State athletics have athletes from 17 different countries in four continents. These student-athletes gain a unique experience by attending school in a foreign country, as well as provide an insight and perspective to those here who call the United States home to the different cultures & traditions that are prominent in our world today.
