While many students study abroad to fulfill a language requirement, or to learn more about the culture of a country, UC Davis water polo players Julia Hartmann and Allyson Clague went for an entirely different purpose — thermodynamics.
As engineering majors, the curriculum can be rigorous and demanding at every level, especially at UC Davis. As a student-athlete, it can be even harder to keep pace. Enter, summer abroad.
"I think just being a collegiate athlete, you don't think it's going to be possible to study abroad," said Hartmann. "I mean, most sports can't — they have training all year long. We're very lucky here with our water polo program at Davis that you do have some weeks off in summer, and it was nice that they offer summer abroad here because we would not be able to do a quarter abroad."
"I thought this might be my only time to ever to do a summer abroad program because of our sport and schedule since we work out all fall, and play during winter and spring."
Hartmann, a biological systems engineering major, is a junior academically, but redshirted her first year on the water polo team. Hartmann had a breakout season in 2020, totaling 13 goals with appearances in every game of the shortened season, and recorded her first career hat trick against No. 7 Cal.
"Yeah, this would have been the only summer that I could go abroad," added Clague. "Next summer would be for internships and stuff like that. I got a pamphlet from Erin McMurry (Student-Athlete Outcomes Advisor) and I looked at it and thought 'this would be cool!'"
Like Hartmann, Clague redshirted her first year on campus, and is a mechanical engineering major. Clague finished third on the team with 19 assists through 20 games, and was the leading scorer against No. 2 Stanford, recording a hat trick against the defending NCAA champion.
The course, Thermodynamics in the Land of Fire and Ice, is taught by professor Paul Erickson, and is otherwise known as ENG 105 — a four unit class. Held in Reykjavik, Iceland, students learn about renewable power and thermodynamic science in a country powered entirely by geothermal and hydroelectric resources. In an immersive, fast-paced course, Hartmann and Clague really felt that their experience in the class was tenfold what it would've been on campus in Davis. Condensing an already short summer session that typically runs six weeks, the thermodynamics class was fit into a four-week time span with three hours of class every day. And lots of field trips.
"Some days you were like 'oh my gosh, I have no idea what's going on, I'm going to have to learn all this stuff,'" remarked Hartmann. "Everyone in the class was so helpful! If you decided you didn't want to do something like a hike or adventure, there were always people studying, always people helping out; even Paul would come and sit down with you, and he was very patient."
Clague was in full agreement — "he'd walk you through the steps, and even if you didn't understand something the first time through, he was so patient. He was like, 'okay, let's go over it again.' I've had other professors who were like 'well, I explained it to you, figure it out.'"
"Yeah, I think that was really great," continued Hartmann. "You do see professors care here a lot, but you're also in a class with 150 students, and you just don't get that one-on-one time, even if you go to office hours every week. I think Paul was really good about focusing on actually having us learn the material, and not just passing the test."
"Sometimes in the middle of lecture, he could just tell on your face that you were so confused, and he'd ask 'are you okay?' He'd literally ask me, "Julia, are you okay?' And I'd say "yeah, I'm okay, I'm okay. I'm getting there." He was very caring, and I thought he was a great professor."
"Even our teaching setting was really helpful," said Clague. "There were 30 of us, and our classmates were really helpful. We all worked on homework together, and people who knew certain things would explain it to other people and it was a really good learning environment where we're all one big team. In engineering, it's not like you're alone — everyone's a big team, like sports. It's six people working on a project together and you're never going to be alone, so if you don't understand something, there's going to be someone else on your team that can help you out."
"I had a lot of friends who were taking thermodynamics in the fall," continued Clague. "They were really struggling because there's just so much information. They're memorizing a bunch of equations, but Paul taught us just one equation, and then taught us how to derive all the other equations from that one."
Although a subject like thermodynamics sounds daunting, the class was broken up into lectures, and field trips that reinforced the concepts covered in class.
Clague said, "even when we were out traveling, Paul would point at a geyser and be like 'example of thermo!' We saw the Geysir — which literally translates to geyser — a few days before the midterm, and we had a midterm question about it."
"You actually get to see it, then get tested on it, which is really cool," remarked Hartmann. "Paul was really knowledgeable, and he knew everything. We went to a national park where the ground is literally bubbling. It looked like mud, but it was bubbling. We asked him, 'what is going on here?" And he could tell you why that one bubble was bigger than the other one, all the chemicals, and why it was that color."
Styled almost like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, Professor Erickson gave his class freedom to learn by doing.
"I think the coolest part of the whole trip was that it wasn't so structured like 'you have to do this,'" said Clague. "It was kinda like our professor was giving us the opportunities to go experience and create our own adventures, and it really made the trip great for us."
"We had class every morning from 9 AM until noon, then after that was free time. You could explore the city, do your homework, or go hiking in the mountains nearby."
"We didn't really get an itinerary or anything," added Hartmann. "We became like a family that was struggling together. The class was very rigorous, and is one of the hardest engineering classes at UC Davis. Paul said his students in Iceland do a whole letter grade better just because you're there, you see it in front of you, you're living with these people who are doing the same thing with you, and that's all you're doing. You're going to these power plants and actually seeing it, and doing the homework based on that. I think I would've done worse if I took the class in Davis."
Even bucket list items like going to Grímsey Island to see the marker where the Arctic Circle is was incorporated into the class, as well as swimming between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. As water polo players, Hartmann and Clague were more than comfortable in the water, although temperatures were below zero. Wearing a drysuit to stay warm, the two Aggies helped others have the best experience possible.
"We looked like we were going to go to Mars," said Hartmann. "You could release the air in the suit so you could sink, but people were struggling so hard! Those suits were really heavy."
Clague added, "people couldn't really dive down in them; you had to take a deep breath and really kick to get down. We were like, 'okay, we're gonna push you down, get ready.' It was honestly the coolest thing I've ever done. People got really cold and got out, but we were in a group of six, so whoever got out first was just waiting for the other five before you could walk back."
"Yeah, so you night as well stay," finished Hartmann. "It was glacier water between two tectonic plates, there was this moss growing up from the bottom, and it was electric green!"
Although all good things must come to an end, Hartmann and Clague made the best of their experience, and both were adamant about how great the course was.
"Oh absolutely, I would do it all over again, and I would recommend it. I think every engineering student should take this class! I mean it was very expensive, but if you can, do it, it's worth every penny." finished Hartmann.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 concerns, all study abroad sessions from UC Davis have been suspended. Normally, students in good standing may begin the application process in early January, with the last day to enroll being the first week in April. More information can be found on the Global Learning Hub.
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