2010-06-18
During the last year, Sioned Wyn made a big impact at the University of Rio Grande and in the community.
Wyn, who is from Wales, served as the 2009-2010 Welsh Intern at Rio Grande, and worked out of Rio Grande’s Madog Center for Welsh Studies.
“This is the first year that we have had the Welsh Intern program,” explained Jeanne Jones Jindra, director of the Madog Center. “It was a great help to me in many ways to have Sioned working here.”
Jindra said that Wyn shared her expertise on Welsh language and culture in events and projects at the Madog Center and in the community.
“She also just brought so much energy and enthusiasm to everything we do,” Jindra added.
Wyn arrived on campus in June of 2009 and finished her internship on June 8 of this year. She is now in the middle of a month-long trip across the United States with her sister, before the two of them return to their home in Wales where Wyn works as a translator for the Cardiff Council.
One main project Wyn worked on at Rio Grande was teaching a Welsh language class.
“It was really fun,” she said. The popular class attracted Rio Grande students and community members, and everyone enjoyed learning the Welsh language together.
Wyn also did a lot of translating of letters, articles, obituaries and other documents written in Welsh for the Madog Center and for area residents.
“It was neat. I enjoyed learning the history,” she explained.
Wyn also took part in numerous Welsh-American events in the community, such as the St. David’s Day Festival, the Tyn Rhos Gymanfa and the Advent Carol Sing. She enjoyed talking with area residents about their Welsh ancestry, and she was impressed with how strong the Welsh culture still is today in southern Ohio.
After living in a large city in Wales, it took a little adjusting to living in rural southern Ohio, but Wyn enjoyed her time here. She enjoyed seeing the differences in British and American cultures, and just seeing how English is spoke differently in the two countries. Asked what she enjoyed most about her trip, Wyn said it was simple.
“The people,” she said. She loved getting to know so many people on campus and in the community, and she said everyone made her feel welcome and at home.
Of course, the people in the community and on campus who got to know Wyn also enjoyed getting to know her as well, Jindra said.
Wyn took part in numerous activities during the last year, such as making presentations at local schools, assisting with presentations by a Welsh speakers on campus, assisting with the Cemetery Walk at Vega Church, taking part in the Homecoming Parade at Rio Grande, assisting with Christmas parties and luncheons, working on the Madog Center’s website, attending numerous meetings with Jindra to represent the Madog Center and helping out in numerous ways.
“It was just really, really nice to have Sioned here,” Jindra said.
The internship program is funded through the Davis Internship, and provides for a Welsh intern at the Madog Center every two years. The Madog Center is involved with numerous projects on campus and in the community, including coordinating an exchange program between Trinity College in Carmarthen, Wales and Rio Grande. The exchange program allows Rio Grande students to spend the fall semester studying at Trinity College and allows the Trinity College students to spend the spring semester studying at Rio Grande.
For more information on the Madog Center, the Welsh Intern program, or the Rio Grande student exchange program, call Jindra at 1-800-282-7201.
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