Globtrotting Buckeyes Explore the World – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
July 21, 2015
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Members of the Ohio State women’s volleyball program have taken advantage of opportunities to reach international destinations over the past three months. Since May, four Buckeyes have grabbed their passports and headed off to a total of six foreign countries spanning four continents located in all four hemispheres while flying over 25,000 combined miles.
Andrea Kacsits – Costa Rica – Soles 4 Souls
Andrea Kacsits, along with eight other Ohio State student-athletes and three full-time athletics staff members, took part in a volunteer initiative with the Soles 4 Souls Organization. The Student-Athlete Support Services Office (SASSO)-inspired collaboration encouraged student-athletes to actively engage in helping provide footwear for those in need. Members of the travel part immersed themselves in the Costa Rican culture while being exposed to the impact of giving a pair of shoes can have on a community. The student-athletes authored a blog (link below) throughout the process, chronicling the valuable experience with photos and written blog entries.
Maggie Heim – Uganda – Educate Uganda
Maggie Heim traveled to Africa in a group of Omahans volunteering for Educate Uganda, a non-profit organizations which focuses on helping the orphaned children of Uganda with annual school fees and improvement of the attended schools. While living three weeks in a small village named Nkokonjeru, The program visited up to seven schools a day and helped deliver school supplies and play with the kids. Heim was able to add a bit of Buckeye flavor to the trip, donating volleyballs and Lil Spikers t-shirts to the children.
Luisa Schirmer – Australia – Study Abroad Scholarship Program
Luisa Schirmer ventured to the ‘Land Down Under’ to study abroad in Australia. The Engineering major was one of 10 Ohio State student-athletes provided full scholarships by the Department of Athletics to fund these once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The program is a collaboration between Athletics, SASSO and the Office of International Affairs allowing student-athletes to enhance their global perspective by engaging in cross-cultural exchanges through study in another country.
OSU Office of International Affairs – Study Abroad
Taylor Sandbothe – Slovenia, Croatia & Italy – Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour
Taylor Sandbothe and the rest of the Big ten All-Star Volleyball Team embarked on a two-week trek through parts of Europe during the first ever Big Ten Volleyball Foreign Tour. The team, consisting of a student-athlete from all 14 conference member schools and an all-B1G coaching staff, took part in competition on the court, participated in community service and experienced new cultures in some of Europe’s greatest cities located in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. All 14 student-athletes contributed an entry into the Big Ten’s blog while Sandbothe figuratively put pen to paper and sent back several electronic postcards throughout the trip (links below). An extensive Facebook photo gallery has been compiled as well.
Dear Buckeye Nation … Signed Taylor Sandbothe
