(Re)Visit: Arizona | Cultural Vistas

At Cultural Vistas, immersive international experiences are everything; even after they’re over, we continue to learn from them. While new international experiences are not possible right now, we can still learn from our past experiences abroad.

Over two weeks, Cultural Vistas will be sharing photos from our alumni through our (Re)Visit series. Each day, we will focus on a different country or U.S. state that transformed them. These photos stay the same, but our perspectives continue to change.

Thank you to our alumni for allowing us to highlight their stunning photography. We hope these photos inspire you to reflect, remember, and #ReVisit your own experiences abroad.

Arizona

Antelope Canyon

Dominique Holbrook
Cultural Vistas Fellowship (2018)

Grand Canyon

Si Won Kim
Korea WEST (2018)

“I saw lots of photos of Grand Canyon. So I didn’t have that much expect of visiting the Grand Canyon. Yet, the moment I saw this amazing view I couldn’t say anything. Grand Canyon shows the history of Earth, and when you see the Grand Canyon in front of your eyes, you realize how human beings are nothing in front of nature.”

SP Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona

Ethan Higgins
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (2016)

“I’ve driven the road between Flagstaff and Tuba City too many times to count on one hand but have never taken the time to explore the many dirt roads that branch off from it. On a new moon, I finally followed my sense of adventure and wound up camping on the rim of a cinder cone volcano with only the Milky Way for company. Discovery is a remarkably simple event but the moment we find ourselves in its discovery becomes astoundingly beautiful. Simple yet complex, succinct, and eternal. Never stop exploring.”

The side of the road

Ethan Higgins
Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (2016)

“Life really likes to challenge us – to throw us curve balls when we aren’t expecting them. To give us lows to balance out the highs. In the end, it is really up to us to make the most of these situations and not let them bog us down.

After a wonderful weekend in Zion National Park catching up with some other 33.PPP Alumni, my car broke down making the 6-hour drive +28 hours. I missed class, had to reschedule plans, and took valuable time out of another person’s day to help me make it home. Instead of letting it get me down I broke out the guitar and howled at the moon. What began as an unfortunate and frustrating event turned into a stellar evening camping in a beautiful corner of Arizona. From that I learned this:

You see what you want to see. Life is only as bad or as good as you make it!”