Memories of Alnwick
Jodi Swanson Dobratz ‘89, Lakeville, Alnwick 1986-87
I started at SCSU in the fall of 1985 after graduating
from Hutchinson High School. I was quickly introduced to
the Alnwick, England Study Abroad Program and decided to
pursue it my sophomore year. Back then it was a six-month
program, from September 1986 through March 1987. I had never
traveled abroad before, never flown in an airplane before,
and had definitely never lived in a castle before! It was
a fabulous experience. I didn’t go with any friends
I knew, but ended up making many wonderful friends and even
found out once I got there that my cousin was on the program,
too!
My fondest memory of a professor was that of Marjorie Deakin,
who has just away in October 2005. She was a great teacher
and a great person. We have a special part of Marjorie in
our home—she had my aunt and uncle and myself over
for tea once and shared with us her Scottish shortbread
recipe. Ever since it’s been our family’s secret
and absolute favorite!
Other great memories included traveling all over Great
Britain, into France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria
and even into Ceuta, a Spanish provision on the tip of Africa.
It really was amazing to be able to experience this much
of the world as a young adult.
My most treasured memory in Alnwick was meeting the Slack
Family. I met their son, Melvyn, at a pub, of course. We
became friends and now our children are friends who have
never met! I have remained very close to them to this very
date. They took me in as part of their family and shared
with me experiences you can only find by getting to know
the people who actually live there. I now work for Dr. Peter
Young, who once headed up the Insurance program at SCSU.
He is now the director of the Risk Management & Insurance
MBA concentration at the University of St. Thomas College
of Business in Minneapolis. We take MBA students to London
every January, offering them two courses in enterprise risk
management and global financial services at Lloyd’s
of London. My friend’s mom, Hazel, from Alnwick, comes
down to London to visit me each year. My husband and I went
to Alnwick in 1997. He loved it! My family is planning a
Great Britain trip for August 2007 so we can take our children
to Alnwick Castle!
My experience at Alnwick was definitely my best at St.
Cloud State University. I feel very blessed to have had
the opportunity to travel abroad and would recommend it
to anyone interested in enhancing their life and degree
program in a very dynamic way.
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