Lehigh University Athletics
Lessons learned a 'Long' way from Lehigh
4/14/2005 7:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
“I think for me, I am definitely of the belief that most of the education we get in college is learned outside of the classroom and coming to Lehigh helped me to appreciate the opportunities that we have, especially at this age.”
Sophomore, Alpha Gamma Delta sorority sister, and tennis team member Lindsay Long loves the challenge of college life. She left her hometown of
Long recently decided to major in accounting. This business school undergrad has taken steps that could affect future Lehigh students for years to come. While playing tennis and working on her minor in political science this spring semester, Long was selected to attend an international conference in
The “e-ducation without borders” conference is run by The Higher Colleges of Technology, one of the
Long was selected to be one of 500 students from 70 different nations to attend this conference of some of the world’s future leaders. Led by an impressive line-up of guest speakers, the conference challenged her beliefs about electronic technology in education and her perceptions of life in the
“It was a really interesting experience seeing that the Muslim religion can exist within a modern society. They are making it work. So many of the people living there are from all over the world that it is a huge melting pot. They are open and accepting of other cultures because their future economy is going to be based on technology, education, and tourism,” she said.
Long first learned of the conference after working as an intern at the Iacocca Institute’s Global Village for Future Leaders of Business and Industry at Lehigh. Only a freshman at the time, she took advantage of the six-week internship which features an international line-up of guest speakers for meetings at the World Bank and the United Nations in New York City.
“Through the Global Village, I met over 80 people from 45 countries,” Long explained. We all lived together and became very close. We email each other constantly and one day a friend told me about the conference and suggested that I apply. After speaking to people at the Iaccoca Institute and Ron Yoshida, I was convinced that this would be an incredible opportunity and that I had to do it.”
Although she had decided to attend the conference, her family wasn’t exactly sure of what to make of the trip, she said. “At first they thought it was a joke. I came home for Christmas vacation and I locked myself in my room for two days to write a 12-page paper on E-education,” Long recalls. “They didn’t think that there was a good chance that I would get accepted due to the large number of applicants. But when I got accepted they really didn’t have any argument. They knew it was something I really wanted to do.”
With her parents’ support, Long faced the challenge of leaving school during the semester. Although concerned about her GPA dropping and missing several exams, she made the difficult decision to go and hasn’t regretted it.
“It was a really hard decision to make. It was ‘four o’clocks week’ and I knew I would have a hard time with my work. It wasn’t like I was on vacation. When I got home I was exhausted. It was really tough to get on track but I knew that it was well worth it. I would choose a life-changing experience over a few GPA points anytime,” she said.
After arriving at the conference, Long was overwhelmed by the graciousness of her hosts. Treated like movie stars, conference participants were given a chance to see a side of the Arab community that was designed to pique their interest.
“I was treated so well, it was incredible. They saw us as future world leaders and were interested in having us come back to live and invest there. They were so excited to show us their universities and ideas. They were truly very happy to have us,” she said.
Long quickly found out that the caliber of student attending the conference was different than the typical
“It’s not like being here at home, where we just turn on CNN, catch a few headlines and go to class. They had a real dedication to educating themselves and being aware of what’s going on in the world. They don’t trust a single news source. We have a lot to learn from that,” she said.
During debates moderated by the famous Oxford Debate Team, Long and her colleagues challenged the audience with interesting and inspirational questions about the future. Many of the issues directly affected those posing the questions.
“For a lot of the people at the conference, this was just another thing on their agenda. They live these challenges everyday. It was moving to see these people do these things. They are just normal kids like us, but there is something different that drives them. Being around them gave me so much energy,” she said.
Not everything was all business however. Long’s hosts rolled out the red carpet and hosted two exciting events to help motivate the students. The first was a large black-tie gala dinner held in a palace overlooking the
The second event, which was probably the most moving for her, was the Safari night. Students were taken deep into the desert for some four-wheeling in all-terrain vehicles. Then they had dinner and listened to guest speakers. They were even given the privilege of having the Venice Symphony perform for them.
“It was very powerful to be sitting at a table in the middle of the desert, looking up at the stars. It was a really intense moment. To be so far away and to feel at home is something that I will never forget. I am really grateful to have had this experience,” she said.
When thinking of her trip, Long proudly recalls a specific moment when her friend’s father, who had grown up in
“He told us how inspiring it was to see us communicating together. He told us that he felt that our generation had given him hope for the future. It was so moving. It still brings tears to my eyes,” she said.
In the end, Lindsay Long did more on her journey to
With Tuesday’s win at
Story by Michael Friedman, Lehigh Sports Media Relations
