Rick Mangold’s trip to Holland brought him insights into how other countries educate future leaders, but also let him revisit his own country’s past. The region he stayed in still carried reminders of the World War II conflict 85 years later. In a cemetery where men killed in the war are buried, Mangold located an uncle’s gravesite.
He also toured a concentration camp. “There’s a lot of history there – a lot of American history. It’s fascinating!” the psychology instructor said.
Everyone he met in the community and at the college was friendly. Once, while returning from a shopping expedition downtown, Mangold lost his way – until he saw a sign. “It was a museum, and the sign said if you’re lost, come inside and find yourself.
” He did, and found a warm welcome, a cup of coffee, a place to pass the time and a memory he treasures. Mangold spent two weeks in The Netherlands as part of a professional study abroad program through the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs. He stayed with the college employee he’d hosted last fall, Judith DeKloe and her family.
DeKloe is retention coordinator at Summa College, a vocational college located in Eindhoven. The college also has several campuses in Holland, a country the size of Maryland. “They call Rotterdam the shipping center, Amsterdam the air traffic center and Eindhoven the brain center – like our Silicon Valley,” Mangold said.
The college is privately funded and housed in former h.