The Magellan Project

Magellan Logo
The Magellan Project is specific to Washington & Jefferson college and is one of W&J's three study abroad options available to current students. The Magellan Project is completed during the summer and allows students to pursue a self-designed research project studying any topic, anywhere in the world. If you dream it, the Magellan Project can grant students the opportunity to achieve that dream. Whether a student wants to stay close to home in Pittsburgh or flies across the ocean to study in Europe or South America, the possibilities are numerous.

Students go through an extensive application process in order to receive funding for their desired project. The first step is to brainstorm ideas and submit a project idea and location. Part two of the application requires four main components: A Personal Statement, A Detailed Essay About The Project, A Budget, and Contacts.

The Magellan Project allows students to step out of their comfort zone and do something that they have never done before. For me, I have never traveled alone before. This will be a wonderful learning experience and I hope to gain so much from my journey. Another wonderful aspect about the Magellan Project is that students can choose project topics that have absolutely nothing to do with their major or minor. This project is all about individual freedom to explore anything you want, anywhere in the world.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 18

Image
Today, I decided to go to Bonn, Germany. I had nothing else planned to do in Cologne so I searched for cities close by that were good to visit. Bonn was highly recommended. The train from Cologne to Bonn was only 18 minutes. These trains are very different from the Belgium and Swiss trains. The difference is a bit hard for me to describe but I much prefer the Belgium and Swiss trains. I arrived in Bonn and began to look for the Poppelsdorf Palace. Google maps was taking me across the train station, but there was no way for me to cut across. I figured I would try again later so I went to the Markt. Bonn is a nice, small town. The streets are all cobblestone and there are barely any cars. The Markt is very small but the Old Town Hall is quite beautiful (pictured below). I ate some lunch at a local sandwich shop and headed for the Beethoven House. I spent about an hour at the Beethoven house. This was not as exciting as I expected. I went all throughout his home and saw the room he ...
Read more

The Magellan Project: My Project

For my Magellan Project, I will be traveling to Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany to research each country's chocolate industries. I hope to find similarities and differences in the taste and production strategies between each country. I also hope to make a general comparison between European and American chocolate. Inspiration for my project: In the summer of 2014, I was fortunate enough to go on a Europe trip with my high school. While in Switzerland, I was constantly reminded to purchase and try Swiss chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and noticed an extreme difference between Swiss and American chocolate. One thought lingered in my mind: What makes Swiss chocolate so much better than American chocolate? Thanks to the Magellan Project, I will hopefully be able to obtain the answer to my question. While researching, I noticed that not only Switzerland, but also Belgium and Germany boasted the best chocolates in the world. I began contacting chocolatiers in ...
Read more

Day 19

Image
Today was a travel day and was very uneventful. This post will be rather short. Around 11:00, I checked out of my Airbnb in Cologne and headed to the train station. My train to Frankfurt took about an hour and a half. The train was much nicer this time. I arrived in Frankfurt Main Station and I followed the instructions that my Airbnb host gave me. Surprisingly, all my transitions went extremely well. The directions from my Airbnb host were spot on and I did not have to ask anyone for help. In previous cities, I was given information from my Airbnb hosts but I still had to go to help desks to ask how to get to my home. I took an S Bahn train to a certain location from the train station. At this stop, I just had to walk across the platform and take the U Bahn to my home. I was very stressed out about this travel because Frankfurt is a big city and I had to take three trains, but everything went smoothly. My Airbnb room is much larger than I thought it would be. I am living with a fa...
Read more