Swedish pen pals tour UD

Swedish high school students and teachers have a photo taken on the steps of Recitation Hall after touring the Paul R. Jones Collection: (top row, from left) Jonas Nilsson, Max Lindstrom, Kristopher Stjernfelt and Carl Wickman with UD freshman Steven King; (middle, from left) Jenny Carlsson and teacher Monica Andersson; and (front, from left) Elin Bernerson, Julia Oscarsson, Lisa Karlsson, Karin Ekwall, teacher Jessica Svardh and Meghan Biery, LIFE coordinator at UD.

11:29 a.m., April 29, 2005--Nine students from Kalmar, Sweden, Wilmington’s sister city, who came to UD Thursday, April 21, to meet their UD student pen pals, tour the campus and see the Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art, got a bonus—a guided tour by Paul Jones himself.

Jones encountered the Swedish students as he was entering Mechanical Hall, where the collection is housed. When he realized they were visiting UD from another country, he took the time to explain how and why he compiled the collection and how it came to UD.

The Swedish students were visiting Wilmington and came to campus to meet the UD freshmen they have been corresponding with by e-mail since September. The 10 UD students all are involved in UD’s Learning Integrated Freshman Experience (LIFE), which brings together like-minded students into clusters to live, study and share ideas.

Meghan Biery, LIFE coordinator, suggested the U.S./Sweden e-mail exchange as part of LIFE’s commitment to academic enrichment for nonhonors first-year students. LIFE is designed to integrate academic and real-life experiences in a variety of ways.

UD business major Steven King said he didn’t know what to expect when he and Julia Oscarsson began corresponding. While they’re the same age, Oscarsson is in the 13th grade in Sweden and about to graduate from high school. King said he’s learned that she and many other Swedes go to the gym two to four times a week to keep fit. He also said he discovered they both like music and to party. “She likes pop and alternative rock and really likes to read Harry Potter.”

Oscarsson said the more she corresponded with King, the more he turned out to be just like her and her friends. “You find out they’re a lot like you are,” she said.

After seeing the Paul Jones collection, students toured Main Street.

Article by Barbara Garrison
Photo by Joslyn Berger, AS ’05

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