Some college students spend their money on flashy clothes, cars and video games while partying away the time before the professional world beckons.
The money Don Whitt III of Clarkston earns in his spare time as a student at Oakland University pays for him to travel the world helping people.
Whitt recently returned from his first trip to the Middle East where he taught displaced Iraqis in Amman, Jordan, at the Princess Basma Center. He taught 10 to 13-year-old boys, three times a week for two hours, in addition to his Arabic studies.
‘We taught English. In two months you can only accomplish so much? I tried to create a positive environment,? said Whitt. ‘Some of the kids have come directly from the war, others had been there for over 10 years.?
Students possessed varying levels of English, but Whitt’s ability to speak Arabic at a conversational level allowed him to explain lessons.
This trip was just one in the latest completed by the Oakland University senior. Throughout his high school and college career, Whitt traveled to many locations including El Salvador, Chile, Mexico and China gaining valuable world knowledge and understanding of cultural differences.
‘Yearly, I’ll spend three to six months outside the country,? said Whitt. ‘It’s a global community. How other people think will differ in how we think. It’s actually coming to terms and trying to mix those together that will help us out. If you don’t try to understand why a person believes certain things and gauge them only by your own judgements, you’ll never understand that person, and I think that’s where a lot of problems arise.?
This experience allowed him to be one of 12 volunteers selected from 40 applicants from Jordan University to teach the Iraqis. The volunteers were studying Arabic there, like Whitt, and came from around the world.
‘My goal was to teach basic stuff and survival phrases,? said Whitt, who hopes his lessons will help his students find a better life.
‘Some people were worried if you teach them English, it has simply a Western or American viewpoint. But sometimes what we forget English is so needed outside of places like the U.S., Britain and Australia. It really is the language of business,? said Whitt. ‘If you don’t know English, for a lot of people, it limits the ability to expand yourself and get a good job? So the opportunity for Iraqi kids to learn English can really increase their chances to better themselves.?
While many of his college peers seek out sandy beaches and places for personal relaxation, Whitt has different goals.
‘Usually when I travel abroad, I look for stuff like this to do. I could go to these places and travel and party, but I’ve found this much more fulfilling,? said Whitt. ‘It brings an experience to the trip. At the same time, it allows you to leave something there, but also take something back with you.?
Whitt is also very active in the community at Oakland. He is a member of the American Arab Student Organization and works with the Muslim Student Association. Whitt hopes to do a fund-raiser through Oakland for the same type of non-formal education he participated in Jordan.
Whitt credits his community-based upbringing and the Apostolic Church of Auburn Hills with providing him an atmosphere of diversity and open-mindedness key to sparking his interest in international travel.
As graduation nears in the winter of 2006, Whitt is looking at several different graduate schools and is considering looking at a master’s degree and/or Ph.D. in linguistics, teaching foreign languages, Middle Eastern studies or comparative religious studies.
Whitt’s parents, Don and Charlene, moved to Clarkston in 2002. His sister Amie is married to Gary Kelp and they have two daughters Aubrie, 5, and Kennedie, 2.