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“I love to travel and meet new people,” says Quinn, who graduatedin December. “I’m not intimidated by a strange environment.”In the first phase of the three-part adventure that was his internationalinternship last summer, Quinn joined a brigade ofAmerican doctors traveling under the auspices of the InternationalRotary Club, delivering medical supplies and care to rural villages.Because of the high demand—they treated over 5,000 people intwo weeks—Quinn was trained under fire and put in charge of ophthalmology,giving eye exams and handing out prescription glasses.Outstanding in his memory is helping a tiny 93-year-old womanwho couldn’t make out even the largest letters of an eye chart untilhe fit her with her first pair of glasses and the world became suddenlysharp. “To see the smile is just amazing,” he says.During the remainder of his six-week stay, Quinn worked withthe municipality of Comayagua to establish a marketing plan fortourism and he helped devise a preliminary plan to export coffee tothe United States as a means of funding Rotary Club projects relatingto housing, education and medical care.“I never envisioned being rewarded so much,” says Quinn, whois now considering using his international business skills in thenonprofit arena. “I can look back and say I really made a differenceon a group of people rather than just my immediate familyor myself.”GOING GLOBALDuring their intensive 240-hour internships last year, which arepart of the program’s requirements, students worked as far away asGhana. They made business trips to New York, Canada andBermuda, immersed themselves in multinational operations fromGreen Mountain Coffee Roasters to Polhemus, Inc., a 3-D imagingcompany that has won an Academy Award for technical achievement.Thanks to worldwide Internet cafes, interns kept connectedwith each other via computer, sharing their experiences in theglobal arena. It’s work they’ve been preparing for since they gotto Champlain.The international business program was started just four yearsago, but with the help of a $150,000 grant from the U.S.Department of Education, it has taken off, providing increasingnumbers of students with unique study opportunities as well aswork abroad. Champlain has the only IB program in the state, sothe College is drawing students from other local schools who arelooking to combine an education in marketing, finance and saleswith their interest in other cultures, travel and foreign language.Two semesters of Spanish or French are currently required in themajor, but work is under way to offer upper-level language coursesas well. A reciprocal arrangement with Saint Michael’s Collegeallows students to study languages not available at Champlain—18 Champlain View | Spring 2004