Hey, everyone! My name is Madison Reddic, and I’m an International Affairs and Modern Languages student. This semester I’ll be walking you through my first year in the Ivan Allen college and the incredible opportunities to serve, work, and learn being a GT liberal arts student has already given me.
This summer, I backpacked in Montana with Outdoor Recreation at Georgia Tech (ORGT). In addition to seeing incredible landscape and wildlife, I saw the U.S.-Canada border that divides the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park –what little border there is! The northernmost border crossing is an unassuming gate and toll booth itself bordered by 10,000ft+ mountains. Seeing how indefinite this border is in comparison to the divisions made by the continental divide gave me a first-hand example of ideas introduced in my “Intro. to International Affairs” class—geography as defense, types of boundaries, etc. I feel so fortunate that even recreation with this university gives me the chance to see where International Affairs concepts matter in the real world.
I value the relationships that are built through service, and recently served as a water sanitation and health education volunteer in Honduras’s Agalta Valley. My classes with the Ivan Allen College have continued to give me the technical background and inspiration to pursue that passion. This semester I enrolled in “Medical Spanish”, a discussion-based course that focuses on public health issues affecting Latinx communities.
The complex problems we discuss (ex. how NAFTA made U.S. junk food cheaper than local produce for Central American consumers) encouraged me to apply to volunteer on a medical outreach trip to Guatemala through GT Volunteers Around the World. I am so excited to learn more about public health and lend a hand in clinics in San Pedro this winter break, and doubt I would have been confident or aware enough to apply for a trip like this without my “Medical Spanish” class!
I can’t wait to see where being an IAC student can take me next and to bring you all along!
Madison Reddic IAML
