Psychology professor returns from Netherlands exchange program

Dr. Rick Mangold’s trip to Holland brought him insights into how other countries educate future leaders, but also let him revisit his own country’s past.

The region he stayed in still carried reminders of the World War II conflict 85 years later.  In a cemetery where men killed in the war are buried, Mangold located an uncle’s, gravesite. He also toured a concentration camp. “There’s a lot of history there – a lot of American history. It’s fascinating!” the Illinois Valley Community College psychology instructor said.

Everyone he met in the community and at the college was friendly. Once, while returning from a shopping expedition downtown, Mangold lost his way – until he saw a sign. “It was a museum, and the sign said if you’re lost, come inside and find yourself.” He did, and found a warm welcome, a cup of coffee, a place to pass the time and a memory he treasures.

Mangold spent two weeks in The Netherlands as part of a professional study abroad program through the Illinois Consortium for International Studies and Programs. He stayed with the college employee he’d hosted last fall, Judith DeKloe and her family.

DeKloe is retention coordinator at Summa College, a vocational college located in Eindhoven. The college also has several campuses in Holland, a country the size of Maryland.

"They call Rotterdam the shipping center, Amsterdam the air traffic center and Eindhoven the brain center – like our Silicon Valley,” Mangold said. The college is privately funded and housed in former headquarters of an enormous electronics corporation. Students attend for free.

“They really empower students to learn. They want students to leave with a job,” Mangold said. “College is a playground to experiment in,” he added, remembering one student who had attained welding certificates but changed direction, returning to college to get a teaching degree so he could teach welding.

Students can enroll in anything from pastry making or welding, automotive, art or fashion, plumbing or woodworking, public safety, technology or healthcare, learning skills in workshop labs from industry professionals. Students also can pursue an academic track to higher degrees.

Mangold was treated to a bakery operated by adults with Down Syndrome – who are mentored by college faculty -- and to a business incubator where a variety of businesses and artisans share space and services in a 10-story office building. “They really want people to be successful.”

When he met with college students, it felt like home because they were like college students anywhere, asking the same sort of questions. They wanted to know how old he was, and he challenged them to guess. The student who shaved a few years off “got a passing grade for the day,” he joked. Students couldn’t wait to get IVCC T-shirts, something Mangold had brought to give away.

Mangold’s mental health training really paid off when he got into the passenger seat facing narrow local roads. Lanes were unmarked and filled with fast-moving traffic and bicycles – and there were lots of roundabout intersections. “Don’t go to Holland if you don’t like roundabouts. They have double or triple roundabouts.” Approaching those, Mangold said he determinedly tuned out and “went into a happy place.”

Roundabouts aside, his trip was a delightful and enriching experience, he said. “Holland is a beautiful country with a rich past and a bright future. The cross-pollination of ideas and teaching techniques makes teaching an exciting discipline to work in!”