William Loder
Korea YAV 2015-16
My name is Will Loder and I recently graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, with degrees in Classical Studies and History. While a full-time student, I also worked for the Tesseract Game Design Lab where we develop online Classics courses, with a significant game component, for university students. This experience was valuable for the hands-on training it provided in designing and building contemporary video games, but more importantly it taught me how technology, used creatively, can enhance education. It also let me see how vital access to technology is for education, and therefore for addressing social and economic disparity at the state level in Arkansas, nationally, and globally.
While at the University of Arkansas I also took the opportunity for study abroad through the Classics Program in Greece and Turkey. The biggest takeaway from this experience was the cultural interaction and perspectives learned. Observing the poverty in Greece due to their economic crisis deeply affected myself and my group. Partly as a result of this experience, I am taking this year to serve in a volunteer capacity to those afflicted by poverty before pursuing a career in Classics. I grew up in Bentonville, Arkansas in my local Presbyterian Church and have been an active member of the UCM UKirk ministry at University of Arkansas. Education is one of the most influential aspects of my life, and I am blessed to be serving at a site in Korea where I will be working in an academic setting.
