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SHERON SMITH
Dr. Laura Thomason and MGA students in her cohort were also
part of a larger group of Adonia passengers that participated in
the reforestation impact activity.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. LAURA THOMASON
Some of the Knights Impact students pose for a group shot in SHERON SMITH
Amber Cove.
SHERON SMITH
Two Dominican children show how closely they bonded with MGA Amber Cove on the northern coast of the Dominican, the port of
student Lenora Rozier during the English tutoring impact activity. call for the Adonia.
With the aid of a workbook designed for the occa- ministration degree, said at a trip debriefing open to all of
sion, Silva also guided Angelica in using the words in writ- the ship’s passengers. “This is my first cruise. I can’t swim
ten sentences. The two quickly bonded and acknowledged and I’m afraid of heights. But it has been worth every
success with the occasional fist bump. penny I spent to be here. Now I’m wondering what comes
next.”
“She’s pretty advanced,” said Silva, who speaks some
self-taught Spanish. “She’s helping me with my Spanish as “I’m forever changed,” LaTrina Hill, 28, a Respiratory
much as I’m teaching her English.” Therapy major from Macon, offered at the same gathering.
“I want to do more of this. I fell in love with the Domin-
Angelica told Silva she wants to be a doctor and ican people. They work so hard for everything they have
thinks learning English is beneficial to that goal. and they are willing to share it with you.”
“It’s wonderful to see children who can already speak The debriefing was bittersweet in that it took place
a foreign language,” said Silva, a Marine Corps veteran and during what turned out to be Fathom’s last cruise to the
former banker preparing for a new career in nursing home Dominican. The Cuba trips also ended as Fathom pre-
administration. “That’s very humbling to me as an Ameri- pared to fold into the British cruise line P&O. Fathom
can.” administrators said they are working with industry part-
ners to develop impact activity shore excursion options for
Standing Out passengers taking standard cruises. But for now at least,
cruises specifically programmed around impact activities
Besides Middle Georgia State students, the impact are over.
travel cruise included students from several other col-
leges and universities, including Tuskegee; church groups; For Knights Impact, though, it’s just the beginning.
retirees; young couples; solo travelers and others looking “We are actively developing the next version of
for a more meaningful experience than a typical leisure Knights Impact and anticipate offering a program of sim-
cruise. Many of the MGA students stood out among the ilar emphasis, duration and cost to students in May 2018,”
passengers, not only for the purple Knights t-shirts they Thomason said. “What the Fathom trip helped us demon-
frequently wore but for their exuberance. strate is that Knights Impact is an international learning
opportunity for students whose academic programs don’t
“I’d never been out of my state,” Charlita Wynn, 24, lend themselves as readily to a study abroad experience. It
who just graduated from MGA with a Health Services Ad- offers a way in to experiential learning and service learn-
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