The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/43017
COVER STOR Y in 14 countries through the Semester at Sea program and then an additional stint in Ireland. "I wanted to use college as a horizon," said Nolan, an Honors Scholar who received a full scholarship to study at UofL. "When you meet people who are different from you, you broaden yourself." As she circumnavigated the globe, Nolan discovered signifi cant differences in culture, history and religion among various populations, but also universal behaviors. In Ghana, for example, she found that many people lacked clean water supplies, yet almost everyone had a cell phone and knew the top songs on U.S. music charts. In most of the countries she visited, Nolan did not speak the same language as her peers but nevertheless identifi ed a common thread — everyone was preoccupied with understanding and building relationships with the opposite sex. "No matter what country we were in, we always had something to talk about," she said, laughing. Back on Louisville soil, Nolan is preparing her honors thesis. The topic: College as a Transformative Space. Nolan plans to analyze transitional shifts for students and publish a how-to book that will prepare other young adults for the experiences they'll have in college. Physical transformation Among the eye-popping changes that have reshaped UofL's campus profi le in the past few years, including a variety of new athletic complexes and student housing sites, perhaps the most surprising addition has been the planting and preservation of trees. UofL recently was named a Tree Campus USA, a national designation awarded to colleges that practice good management of urban forests. The university developed a care plan for the more than 1,100 trees on its 309-acre Belknap Campus and is spending upwards of $200,000 a year to maintain them. Last fall, 65 students in Assistant Professor Tommy Parker's biology class took a formal inventory of the trees "The look of the campus, the faculty and the variety of course offerings: Students get a lot more individualized attention. There are more activities and enrichment. If students want to live on campus, they have more opportunities than they did before." FALL UOFL MAGAZINE|19