Sunday, July 19, 2009

Meredith’s Perugia #11: Would Some Of These Have Been Her Best Friends For Life?

Posted by Our Main Posters

Meredith was on Europe’s elite Erasmus Program for her year in Perugia. It must have been one of the happiest moments of her life when she won that award.

Not only is it well structured and well funded - Erasmus students find themselves transformed in their career expectations, and invariably they bond with their classmates for life.

These in the video above are Erasmus students from Perugia who would have been there for the same year (2007-2008) as Meredith. They are photographed here at Perugia and at Foggia University during a semester there - Foggia is south-east of Perugia, on Italy’s east coast, 

Students like Meredith from Leeds and other British universities study the British Council Erasmus website for everything relevant to their great adventure.  And there are dozens of post-Erasmus networking sites for fellow students to remain in touch.

The video below captures the spirit of the program - why Meredith would have been so attracted, and so proud.

Posted by Our Main Posters on 07/19/09 at 06:56 PM in Concerning Meredith

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Comments

Amanda Knox’s arrangement in Perugia by the way was about as opposite to this as such things can be. Though there can be big pluses from that second kind of scheme, there can also be big pressures and temptations.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 07/19/09 at 02:55 PM | #

These videos reminded me of an Open University summer school I was on; they last a week, and are packed full of interesting people, lots of study, and socialising.

We always had a great time and felt really safe, until the year a lecturer was murdered by a student, completely randomly, the day before we arrived.

I can still remember the shock we all felt - it was just something that didn’t happen in that environment and circumstance.

I can imagine that the Erasmus students of Mez’s year must have felt that same dislocation; it’s something that happens to other people in other places.

I feel so very sad that she never got the chance to fulfill her potential.

Posted by NearlyNeville on 07/20/09 at 04:36 AM | #

I remember my Erasmus year very well.  I had a slightly different experience to Meredith, I decided to work as an english teaching assistant rather than go to the university in Vienna.

It was the right choice for me as it is very tempting to just hang out with all the erasmus lot and speak english all the time, I went to a tiny village in the austrian alps and felt I learned more…..this was just the right choice for me.

I still stay in touch with the other language assistants.  Erasmus years are taxing, can be isolating but can also be exhilarating!!  I wouldn’t be where I am today without erasmus.  I find it very difficult to think of how enriching it could have been for Meredith.  Had things been different.

Posted by Siri on 07/21/09 at 07:17 PM | #

Pete, what a beautiful tribute to the woman that Meredith was, and what she most definitely would have become. The videos were wonderful, and clearly show the camaraderie among ERASMUS student-scholars. They have their whole lives ahead of them, and so did Meredith. They bond personally, but the ties they form will also shape the EU and the world in years to come. Thanks again for this enlightening story and videos.

Posted by Earthling on 11/29/09 at 08:52 PM | #
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Where next:

Click here to return to The Top Of The Front Page

Or to next entry Meredith’s Perugia #12: A Colorful Event Right Now That Meredith Might Have Loved

Or to previous entry Kristian Leontiou’s “Some Say” Video - And Yes, That Really IS Meredith You See There