Senior Studio Art major Leann Carlson had always stayed close to her home in Vineland, NJ (Cumberland County). But when the opportunity of a lifetime popped into her Rowan email inbox last year, she took it as a sign to step out of her comfort zone and explore all that the world of art has to offer. Little did she know that one semester later, she’d be traveling solo to several countries, making lifelong memories and friends, and enhancing her art skills in Florence, Italy!
Leann applied to the Seward Johnson Artist Development Travel Scholarship on a whim last winter, remembering how fascinated she was with the award after hearing about it during her freshman year. And when her best friend, Joe Cimino, received the award last year, she was so excited to hear all of his stories and see his work from the trip. It is a prestigious art scholarship for upperclassmen in the Art Department to study at Studio Art College International (SACI) in Florence, Italy for a whole semester, covering tuition, transportation, housing and more.
“When I first applied, I wasn’t 100% sure I would be right for the opportunity, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t at least try,” she reflects. “And when they told me I got it, I knew I couldn’t give it up, no matter how nervous I was.”
Leann spent the next weeks preparing for the trip any way that she could. She studied Italian using apps such as Duolingo and Babble, and received translation books for Christmas. Joe told her stories of his time in Italy, and advised her on what to pack for the trip. He even shared a list of recommendations for restaurants, cafés and attractions to visit while she was there!
“It was terrifying at first. To travel alone, it takes a lot of courage and confidence. You have to be smart about what you’re doing and consider the language barrier,” Leann says. “This was a big jump for me. I didn’t even know who my roommates were until the day I moved in!”
Even in such a beautiful country, being thousands of miles away from the campus she grew to love was not always easy. “I have a lot of friends on campus at Rowan and know all of the faculty, since we’re a relatively small department we all get to know each other very quickly. I have a network of people at Rowan, so when I got to SACI it felt like I was starting from scratch, which was a little intimidating,” Leann recalls.
Luckily, Leann’s roommates at SACI quickly became her good friends, exploring and traveling with her during their time off from classes. They spent their free days visiting local museums, trying out the restaurants nearby and planning weekend getaways. Together, they even visited many places students dream of going, including Ravenna, Rome, Venice, Paris, Budapest, Dublin and more! “Once I got used to [being away from home], I couldn’t believe there was even a time when I was unsure about doing this.”
And even while she was enrolled at a university across the world from her home base, she found ways to incorporate her #RowanPROUD attitude into her experiences abroad: “There were times where I’d be walking through Florence and the buildings would remind me of Philadelphia, so it was a nice little piece of home while I was so far away.”
Leann’s art classes at SACI helped her stray from her comfort zone once more, introducing her to new materials and techniques she had never used before in her work. She learned the arts of etching, serigraphy (screenprinting), book making and batik, but her love of printmaking only increased with her exposure to new techniques. She returned to Glassboro at the end of the semester with a mental list of classes she wanted to get into at Rowan because of her experimentation with different media at SACI.
“This scholarship opportunity changed me as an artist and as a person,” Leann reflects. “I met a lot of different types of artists while I was away, like printmakers, which influenced me to get a lot more into printmaking myself. My roommate was a ceramicist, and I don’t know many ceramicists at Rowan, so it was interesting to hear about something I previously have not had a lot of expertise in. She even made me a mug!”
Leann credits her “incredible” experience abroad to the skills she developed through her four years at Rowan. “I learned how to network and socialize at Rowan, how to get to know my professors and classmates by going to events and speaking to as many different people as I can. My time in Italy would not have been the same without the ability to meet new people that I’ve gained here.”
Networking is also the reason Leann secured a job at the Rowan University Art Gallery on campus! “I started going to events and talking to people to get involved more in the Art Department. I learned to make it a point to get myself out there even though it’s really scary,” she says. “If you could just go out of your way to have one conversation or make one friend a day, your goal will be completed.”
Though Leann’s time abroad is over, the memories she made will stay with her for years to come, and she is looking forward to seeing who receives the Seward Johnson Artist Development Travel Scholarship this year.
“I can’t wait to just bombard them with information and advice like I was so lucky to get from Joe. I just want to pass along that information to somebody, because I definitely needed a lot of help with packing for the trip, finding my way around, learning the culture. I hope I can help the next person as well and keep that tradition going for future winners of this opportunity.”
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Story and photography by:
Nicole Cier, senior writing arts major
Additional photos courtesy of:
Leann Carlson
What else caught your attention about Rowan? The school was pretty diverse. I’m from Africa and in Africa we always treat each other like family, and we are all about feeling welcomed. So, I wanted to be in a place where people were welcoming and where I wouldn’t feel left out.
don’t know anyone at the event you come back knowing about 10 people. There was one time I went to this event, I think the African Student Association hosted it, I didn’t know anyone — at the end of the day I knew like 10 different people. I didn’t feel like an international student anymore. Everyone is included here; all the opportunities are for everyone. 
What’s your favorite thing about Rowan?
What inspired you to choose your major and the 4+1 program?
I took. But the major proponent that always puts me right back on track is my family, and how I would choose bioinformatics over nursing in a heartbeat.
What would you share with a future student interested in your major? I would tell them that Molecular and Cellular Biology is definitely a little harder than regular biology, because the engineering base classes, or statistics-based classes, are harder than the classes that biology students take. I would say that you get a better variety of subjects, you get to learn so many other things than what a regular bio major does. If you are looking to branch out in college in your education, but not to an extreme degree and if you don’t have enough time to take on a minor then taking a major where you have some flexibility in your classes is really good. If you want to experience something else besides regular science classes, then you should try Molecular and Cellular Biology.
How does your field impact the world? It’s very research based A lot of my professors that teach my classes actually do research, like cancer research, different blood pathogens research, different diseases research. There’s a lot of research that goes into it.
development and evaluation for minority communities, drowning prevention and aquatic safety among African American and Hispanic/Latino populations, youth development and culturally responsive teaching.
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Share an “aha!” moment you’ve had within your discipline that made you feel passionate about your field
What is your area of expertise?
Name:
What got you interested in your intended field? I began taking
Every year entering students (freshmen and transfers) who have registered for the program arrive early on-campus for the Fall semester and participate in group activities run by Rowan’s staff members and upper-class student leaders.
This year there were four student leaders and they all had to work together in planning different types of activities for the participants to do during their free time. “We put together a scavenger hunt and some games,” she said.
Being a student leader has taught Rose to work along with other fellow leaders, bounce off ideas from one another and how to make plans in a group where everyone agrees.
Meet Egg, Frankie and Gandalf!
Share an “aha!” moment you’ve had within your discipline that made you feel passionate about your field
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I will never forget when, as a postdoctoral scholar at Northwestern University, I created the new theoretical approach for studying electron transport that is the basis for much of my research today. The “aha” moment came when I finally figured out the final form of the transport equations. The excitement of bringing a new idea into the world that I could call my own was a moment that validated all of the hard work and study required to get to that point.
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Christina, a lifelong Prof, found her love for teaching at an early age and knew Rowan University would be the school to help her achieve this dream. “I knew Rowan was the choice for me,” said Christina. “I was most impressed with the devotion its faculty and staff have towards education and truly teaching it like a calling.” During her time within the 
complete a 
working towards an Ed.D while still gaining that higher education.
challenges that are integral to the engineering field. More specifically, my work within engineering entrepreneurship focuses on the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.
everything that they do and is eager and open to learning whatever is necessary to be successful.
through failure, and can manage risk.
Around the time she discovered the article, Jo was part of a class called New Ventures Development, where students expand on an idea for a potential startup business or product, and experience the process of bringing it to life. “In that class, I came up with the concept of a personal filtration system within a water bottle, called RefresH2O,” Jo says. “Wherever you are – hiking, spending time outdoors – you can scoop up water from a nearby body of water, and it will be filtered fresh. This will alleviate our plastic usage, and make us wiser about how we source our water.” Another class, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, helped Jo finalize the marketing plan and details for her product, including the target market and purpose. “I wanted to make a product that even a three year old could use. Everyone needs clean water — it’s a human right, but not everyone is lucky enough to have that,” she explains.
Her future plans include owning her own environmentally sustainable holdings or manufacturing company, and possibly even attending graduate school for a degree in engineering management, to continue to grow. She advises freshmen coming into the field to not let the idea of ‘perfection’ interfere with your goals. “‘Good’ is good enough; just get your name and idea out in the world and continue to work on your idea as you progress,” she says. “And keep track of your commitments! Juggling school work, being on the track team and my internship, senior year has been the most challenging year yet, but planning it all out and prioritizing made it a lot better.”
Commuter and first-generation college student (now graduate!) Cheyenne Rickabaugh of Cape May, NJ (Cape May County) says the best way to make friends at college is, “Show up to things! Talk in class! Not during lecture, though.” She also says that the best way to get the most out of your college experience is to, “Just get out there and do things! Have fun.” Congrats, Cheyenne, on earning your geography degree from the 
Coming in as an exploratory studies major really helped me to solidify what I wanted to do as a career.
was a high school senior I felt the pressure of this in the back of my mind. I picked the school farthest away in an environment nothing like my current one because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. If I could go back and give myself any advice it would be to not pick a school for anyone but myself. I was too busy focusing on fitting the image, that I didn’t realize I wasn’t ready to go 8 hours from home. For some people going away is the fresh start that they need, but it wasn’t for me and that’s okay. Transferring to Rowan allowed me to grow and succeed in ways I never imagined. I’ve studied abroad in Europe, held local, state, and federal internships, and met some of my best friends. The biggest lesson to be learned is that there is no one size fits all college experience and to choose a college that best helps you grow.
