Student Spotlight: Callie Curley

Callie has been attending Penn State Berks since the fall of 2014 and she’ll be moving to University Park for the fall of 2016. Callie is a native of Montrose, PA. Recently, I have renamed Callie, “Calista.” She has embraced it, even though we are all aware that Callie is her full first name. 

Callie was the first to celebrate a birthday during Parks & People.

Callie plans to major in Public Relations and minor in International Agriculture. She is also thinking about a Sustainability Leadership minor. Callie’s interest in agriculture ties back to her grandpa’s dairy farm and her involvement in 4H, which she started at age 8. Callie has been involved with 4H through showing a calf, judging, and promotion, including her stint as Dairy Princess.

Callie’s interest in ag has continued on her journey throughout South Africa. She has picked up almost every edition of Farmer’s Weekly throughout our time here. She also makes an occasional cow joke:

“Why does the milking stool have three legs?”                          Because the cow has the udder.

Within the group, Callie has played both the role of the jokester and the cheerleader. She recalls meeting other members of the group in the Cape Town airport and being nervous, yet excited about the experience. When she saw that Monica was wearing purple duck socks, she knew that Parks & People 2016 was going to be a great experience.

Callie made note of a few Parks & People victories. In our first week, we tried to go to Table Mountain once and it was too windy, we tried to a second time and saw the closure sign at the bottom of the entrance, and then we were victorious on our third try. There was a tablecloth of clouds rolling over the mountain, so we didn’t see much from the top, but we made it!

While Callie was not looking forward to the heat, she admits it hasn’t been as hot as she expected. We even survived the Karoo. Callie fondly recalled how she felt we had “overcome the evils of the Karoo” as we drove away. 

In fact, Callie’s favorite road trip (so far) was the drive from the Karoo to George. It was scenic, the rock cuts were beautiful and stately, and there was GREEN, which was so welcome after spending a week in the desert. Then, we arrived in George, which was beautiful and had baboons all over the place.

Callie is appreciative of how welcoming South Africans have been and was surprised by how much political knowledge many South Africans have. We have found ourselves in many situations where South Africans not only know who is running for President, but has specific information on each candidate’s platforms. Overall, this experience has made Callie aware of how much privilege United States citizens have to travel like we do. She said, “We have so much power that we don’t even take advantage of.”