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by Kevin Bonner

Like most student-athletes, La Salle field hockey seniors Haley Jennings and Janel Paukovits had several options for summer vacation. Internships, traveling and even summer classes are often on the agenda for Explorer athletes once classes end in May.

Jennings and Paukovits, who grew up just 20 minutes from each other in the Lehigh Valley, completed all of those tasks. The difference was that this duo experienced them in another country.

In early June, the two traveled to London for a two month study abroad program coordinated through Arcadia University. Both worked three days a week at an internship, took a class one night a week and experienced Great Britain and other countries during long weekends.

“We knew we wanted to study abroad and we started really talking about it during our sophomore year,” Jennings said. “But with field hockey it was difficult to do during the fall and spring semesters.”

“Our finalists were Ireland, England and South Africa,” Paukovits said. “We chose London because our internship options were much better.”

Paukovits worked three days a week with a health care/public relations company, while Jennings worked at a dentist office doing compliance and business administration.

On Wednesday nights, both attended a class on diversity in the British workplace, which was taught by Arcadia University professors at the City University London.

The long weekends allowed for plenty of sightseeing, both in England and the surrounding countries.

“We visited Prague, Paris, the South of France, Bath and Brighton,” Paukovits said.

Travel issues, which delayed their arrival by nearly 36 hours, did prevent them from seeing another memorable event—the Diamond Jubilee, the 60^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne of England.

The Olympics were a constant presence while Jennings and Paukovits were in town even though the La Salle seniors were only in London for two days during actual competition. Paukovits worked near the beach volleyball stadium, while Jennings said she could definitely feel the city becoming more crowded as the Olympics approached.

A visitor would expect most of the people in London to be from London, but that wasn't the case.

“I would forget I was abroad,” Jennings said. “It seems that people in London aren't from London. Everyone is traveling or students or from another country. It wasn't that much of a culture shock.”

“At my internship, I had co-workers from Scotland, Zambia, Australia, and Finland,” Paukovits said. “It's more of a melting pot than you would think.”

After returning in August, the pair had a week at home with their families before returning to La Salle for preseason camp. Then two weeks later, their travels continued with a team trip to California for three games.

It was a whirlwind summer but one that these two Explorers will remember for a long time.